Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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33. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of claims pending against the State Claims Agency to date by claim type, category and county in which the claimant is based; if there is transparency between the State Claims Agency and the delegated State authorities regarding the way in which individual cases are being managed; if delegated State authorities are informed of the details on cases that are being taken by the agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21285/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the State Claims Agency (SCA) that as of 4 May 2018, there were 10,447 active claims recorded on the National Incident Management System (NIMS). NIMS is an IT system which is hosted by the SCA for the HSE, other Healthcare enterprises and Delegated State Authorities, and is used to manage and report on incidents and active claims.

These 10,447 active claims are broken down by incident/hazard category, and include:

- 3,163 related to clinical care;

- 6,586 related to exposure to various types of hazards (i.e. biological, physical and psychological);

- 487 related to crash/collision;

- 202 related to property damage/loss;

- 9 uncategorised, awaiting investigation.

NIMS does not collate data on the county in which claimants are based.

As the Deputy may be aware, the SCA has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims, including claims in respect of clinical negligence, on behalf of Delegated State Authorities (DSAs), which include the Health Service Executive. When managing cases on behalf of DSAs, the SCA engages with DSAs to carry out investigations and to establish the facts of the cases. The SCA engages with DSAs on an on-going basis throughout a case in this respect, and the SCA provides regular information to DSAs in respect of their claims portfolios.

The SCA is statutorily mandated to determine the claims management strategy on the claims it manages on behalf of DSAs. The SCA's claims management objective is, while acting in the best interest of taxpayers in matters of personal injury and property damage litigation, to act fairly, ethically and compassionately in its dealings with people who have suffered injuries and/or damage and who take legal actions against the State or State bodies, and their families.  In cases where the SCA investigation concludes that the relevant State authority bears some or all liability, it seeks to settle claims expeditiously and on fair and reasonable terms, while seeking to in no way exacerbate the suffering of those citizens. If it considers that the State is not liable, the SCA's policy is to defend the claims.