Written answers
Tuesday, 4 December 2018
Department of Justice and Equality
Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal Data
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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253. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the date of each meeting of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal since 1 January 2016 to 2017 and to date in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50682/18]
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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254. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of cases with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal at the end of December 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50684/18]
Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 253 and 254 together.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal administers the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted and the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted on Prison Officers.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal comprises of a Chairperson and six Ordinary Members. Tribunal members, who are practising barrister and practising solicitors in the Courts system, provide their services on a part time basis to the Tribunal. Each application for compensation is considered at first instance by a Single Member of the Tribunal, based on papers submitted. A person who is dissatisfied with a decision given by one Member may appeal and have his/her claim heard de novobefore three Members of the Tribunal. The member who gave the initial decision will not be one of the Tribunal members present at the appeal hearing. Dates for appeal hearings are set on the basis of availability of Tribunal members, appellants and/or their legal representatives, and are set out in the following table.
| Year | Date of Hearing |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 5 and 6 April |
| 21 November | |
| 5 and 6 December | |
| 2017 | 9 and 10 January |
| 23 and 24 January | |
| 6 and 7 February | |
| 20 and 21 February | |
| 6 and 7 March | |
| 20 and 21 March | |
| 3, 4 April | |
| 25 April | |
| 8 and 9 May | |
| 22 and 23 May | |
| 13 and 16 June | |
| 27 June | |
| 12 September | |
| 25 and 26 September | |
| 9 and 10 October | |
| 13 October | |
| 23 and 24 October | |
| 7 November | |
| 2018 | 23 and 24 April |
| 28 and 29 May | |
| 11 and 12 June | |
| 9 July | |
| 5 and 6 November | |
| 19 and 20 November | |
| 3 December |
The Tribunal’s next appeal hearing date is scheduled for 10 December, 2018.
Details of the number of applications received by the Tribunal and the number of cases in which payments were made are provided as follows for the general Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Inflicted.
| Year | Number of Applications Received | Number of Cases in which Payments Made |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 228 | 105 |
| 2014 | 257 | 75 |
| 2015 | 217 | 159 |
| 2016 | 210 | 73 |
| 2017 | 181 | 31 |
I can inform the Deputy more generally that I have requested an assessment of the caseload of the Tribunal and have asked my officials to examine this assessment and seek the views of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal in this regard.
In view of the length of time since the Scheme was last revised, my Department has submitted a request for a review of the Scheme to the Law Reform Commission (LRC) for consideration in the context of its Programme of Law Reform.
Furthermore, in view of a number of large value awards in the current year, I can inform the Deputy that I have obtained approval for an increased allocation of €2.4m, for 2018, as part of a Supplementary Estimate for the Vote which will bring the total compensation allocation to €6.416m.
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