Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin (Wicklow-Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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1866. To ask the Minister for Health if she accepts that the average cost of a legal claim for medical negligence in Ireland is almost three times higher than in the UK; that cases take over 50 per cent longer to resolve than in the UK; her views that a medical negligence claim in Ireland takes 1,462 days on average (four years), 14 per cent longer than in South Africa and 56 per cent longer than in Hong Kong, the UK or Singapore; if she will provide a solution to the matter that the Medical Protection Society have highlighted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58833/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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My predecessor as Minister for Health published the Report of the Interdepartmental Working Group on the Rising Cost of Health-Related Claims 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 at: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-health/publications/interdepartmental-working-group-on-the-rising-cost-of-health-related-claims-report/

The Report identified six strategic priorities to reduce the requirement for litigation in healthcare and improve the litigation process for those taking this path. It set out a comprehensive set of 30 recommendations that span a range of government departments and agencies. The government accepted the recommendations of the Report and established an Implementation Group to drive forward their implementation.

The Government has reinforced the importance of making progress on this issue by including a commitment in the Programme for Government 2025, to "Implement the recommendations of the Report of the Interdepartmental Working Group on the Rising Cost of Health-Related Claims and make it easier and less stressful for patients when things go wrong".

The focus of the work of the Interdepartmental/Agency Implementation Group, established in September 2024, has been to ensure that the recommendations made are implemented without delay.

The Implementation Group will continue its work to ensure progress is made on the recommendations, monitor progress against the actions and timelines set out in the plan, and report on progress, in accordance with its Terms of Reference.

Since the publication of the Report in September 2024, and in tandem with the work of the Implementation Group on the drafting of this plan, a number of recommendations have been substantially implemented, including:

• the launch of the National Open Disclosure Framework in 2023
• commencement of the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 in September 2024
• issue by the President of the High Court in April 2025 of two new High Court Practice Directions concerning clinical negligence proceedings