Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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1336. To ask the Minister for Health her plans to progress reforms of the medico-legal system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48966/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Government agreed to the establishment of the Interdepartmental Working Group on the Rising Cost of Health-Related Claims in January 2023 and the previous Minister for Health published the Group’s Report on the 19 September 2024, along with two ancillary reports, ‘Plaintiff experiences of the medico-legal environment in Ireland (UCC)’ and ‘A Comparative analysis of clinical negligence claims in a range of jurisdictions (HRB)’. The reports are available on my Department's website.

The Report identifies six strategic priorities, which aim to reduce the requirement for litigation in healthcare and improve the litigation process for those taking this path. It sets out a comprehensive set of 30 recommendations that span a range of Government Departments and Agencies. This includes a number of civil litigation measures/legal reforms that are being progressed by my colleague, the Minister for Justice.

Government approved the establishment of an Interdepartmental/Agency Implementation Group to ensure that the recommendations made are implemented without delay. Chaired by my Department, the group has held eleven meetings to date.

The focus of the Implementation Group has been on the development of an Implementation Plan for each of the recommendations and this work is progressing. Alongside this, progress has been made on a number of the recommendations.