Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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509. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number and value of claims by Gardaí who were injured during the course of their duties post-2022 that were processed by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (details supplied) [10770/25]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The Injuries Resolution Board, an agency of my Department, is Ireland’s independent State Body which resolves personal injury claims. It is a key pillar in contributing to the reform of the insurance sector and the personal injuries environment. It generates millions of euros in savings which would otherwise be spent on processing claims, leading to higher costs for policy-holders.

The Garda Síochána (Compensation) Act 2022 falls under the remit of my colleague the Minister for Justice. Under the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Act 2022, the Injuries Resolution Board, was empowered to provide a streamlined and accessible process for dealing with compensation claims for injuries sustained by members of An Garda Síochána during the course of their duties.

The Act commenced on 10 April 2023 enabling Garda compensation claims for malicious injury to be settled through the Injuries Resolution Board’s process from that date, previously these claims had to be heard in the High Court.

The Injuries Resolution Board have reported to me that the total volume of Garda compensation claim applications received by the Injuries Resolution Board, with injuries inflicted on or after 01/01/2023, is 186. To date, 27 awards have been made with a total value of is €337,750.50. The average award was €12,509.28.

Of those, 24 have been accepted by the claimant with a total accepted value of €286,047. The average accepted award is €11,918.

Under the Injuries Resolution Board, applications are processed considerably quicker than under the old scheme, with the average time to assess a claim in 2024 being 6.2 months. Furthermore, the high acceptance rate of 86% now means that the majority of the claims are no longer entering the court system.