Personal Injury Claims
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17
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Marie Sherlock (LAB), Dublin Central

I am conscious the Minister of State relaying the reply on behalf of the Minister for justice. Any of us not living in a situation where a family member has a catastrophic injury have no real insight but from the families I have met and families I am aware of, the stress and burden they have to endure day in, day out, and the worry of not being able to provide that care are enormous. The toll it takes on families is enormous and then they are put through this arduous process every few years for an interim care order. To be frank, the reply from the Department of justice does not answer my question. My question is, when will the secondary legislation be passed?
I take a particular interest in the very large resources spent by our State is spent. It is not just about what is spent but how it is spent. The State Claims Agency spent over €109 million last year on legal fees for itself and plaintiffs. It spent about €115 million the year before. That is an enormous amount of money. That the State Claims Agency has to agree interim pay orders every few years with these families and spend the State's money doing so is outrageous. The recommendations of these reports have been with the Department of justice for two years. The Minister said last November they were imminent. What is the delay? Why are officials and the Minister not thinking about the impact on these families? Surely it is not rocket science in terms of what needs to be legislated for. It is very clear - it is the HICP and health workers' earnings. We need to see action.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-17