Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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606. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will provide a schedule of the active and settled legal cases the State Claims Agency is handling on behalf of his Department in the past six years to date in 2020; the stage they are at; the general nature of the claim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20727/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that the State Claims Agency (SCA) has delegated authority to manage personal injury and property damage claims taken against the Minister for Defence.

In cases where the State is considered liable or which involve an apportionment of liability as between the State and the claimant, the SCA's approach is to settle such cases expeditiously in so far as it is possible to do so on reasonable terms. In cases where liability is fully disputed by the State, all necessary resources are applied to defending such claims robustly.

The Department's records indicate that as at 29th July 2020, the SCA is managing 517 claims on behalf of the Minister for Defence that are at various stages of proceedings. With regard to a specific breakdown of active and settled legal cases that the SCA is handling in the past 6 years to date, this information is not held by the Department in that format. This information has been requested from the SCA and I have been advised that the information cannot be compiled within the timeframe to answer this Parliamentary Question. I will revert to the Deputy when further information is made available to me.