Written answers
Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Department of Justice and Equality
Court Judgments
Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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249. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of cases of compensation for personal injury that have been struck out of court in the past five years due to the case being deemed fraudulent; the number of these cases subsequently referred to An Garda Síochána for investigation; the number of persons convicted of insurance fraud in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8610/18]
Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions, which include the provision of information on the courts system.
However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that statistics are not compiled in such a way as to provide the information requested by the Deputy. I have requested the Courts Service to examine the requirements, including system development and resource issues, needed to enable the compiling of such statistics going forward.
The Deputy will also wish to be aware that the issue of fraud in the personal injuries litigation area is being examined as part of the ongoing work of the Cost of Insurance Working Group, which is chaired by my colleague Minister of State Michael D’Arcy. In January 2018, the Working Group produced its Report on the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance which includes a number of specific recommendations in relation to insurance fraud in the personal injuries area including the production of statistics on complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions.
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