Catherine Murphy
Question:504. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice if she received submissions (details supplied); if so, the number of submissions received; and the steps she took on foot of those. [33981/23]
View answerTuesday, 11 July 2023
Questions (504)
Written answers
At the outset, I again want to record my sympathy for all those affected by issues arising from CervicalCheck. I have previously met with the 221+ Patient Support Group and they explained their concerns to me in relation to a number of matters, including issues raised by the Morrissey v HSE case relating to the Civil Liability Act 1961.
In the Morrissey v HSE case, the Supreme Court held that the dependents of a plaintiff who has brought an action for personal injury cannot, while the plaintiff is still alive, claim for the future loss of services which the plaintiff might have been expected to provide for his or her family. The Court stated that if the law in this area is to be changed, it would have to be done by way of legislation, rather than by an evolution in the case-law.
A personal injury action may be brought by an injured person while he or she is alive, or a wrongful death action may be brought under section 48 of the Civil Liability Act 1961 by an injured person’s dependents after his or her death, but it is not possible for both of these actions to be brought arising from the same wrongful act.
These issues were discussed at a meeting with my officials on 4 February 2021. Following this meeting of 4 February, I then asked that further consideration be given to issues relating to this proposal, including looking at international examples.
While there was no formal submission made to me the Deputy will, however, be aware that the Government is progressing several initiatives for improvement and reform in the areas of personal injury actions and medical negligence actions.
In January 2023, the Government approved the establishment of an Interdepartmental Working Group to examine the rising cost of health-related claims and consider mechanisms to reduce costs. The Group is chaired independently by an expert healthcare professional, Dr Rhona Mahony, and is comprised of membership from across key Government Departments and Agencies. The Group has commenced its work.
The Group’s considerations include developing a plan to implement risk management and other initiatives to reduce the occurrence of adverse incidents, examining best international practice, receiving updates on the implementation of the Expert Group Report to Review the Law of Torts and the Current Systems for the Management of Clinical Negligence Claims (the Meenan Report) along with other civil justice reforms and considering the policy and health system’s approach to mass claims.
It is also tasked to recommend measures to address patient concerns following incidents, (e.g., disclosure procedures, trauma counselling, provision of supports) that will reduce the need for patients to initiate legal proceedings. In considering this, the group is asked to give consideration to those measures suggested by Dr Scally in his final implementation review report published in November 2022. In addition it will examine the health system’s involvement in the claims process, in particular its role in the provision of evidence/medical records in the course of discovery with a view to streamlining processes as well as consider the policy and health system approach to Mass claims, including examining whether there is scope for the Department/HSE to improve or standardise its approach when dealing with calls for redress and inquiries.
The Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023, which has recently been signed into law, includes amendments to the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 and Part 15 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, in relation to the proposed introduction of a pre-action protocol relating to clinical negligence actions. The purposes of introducing a pre-action protocol, which is a commitment in Justice Plan 2023, are to encourage early resolution of allegations of negligence, promote timely communications between parties and reduce the number of clinical negligence actions which are brought. Preparatory work for the introduction of a pre-action protocol relating to clinical negligence actions is ongoing between my Department and the Office of the Attorney General.
Part 3 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023 contains amendments to the Civil Liability Act 1961, which provide that in future, the indexation rate for periodic payment orders in catastrophic injury cases will be set by regulations made by the Minister for Justice with the consent of the Minister for Finance. The amendments will allow greater flexibility in the setting of the indexation rate and set out the general rule that a periodic payment order will be adjusted, on an annual basis, by reference to an index specified under the section.
Following a public consultation, an expert group has been established to set the discount rate in awards for personal injury cases. The Group is expected to report to me on the matter later this year.
Finally, there are a range of ambitious justice reforms, committed to in the Programme for Government and set out in my Justice Plan, now being implemented across the Department, including implementation of the recommendations of the Judicial Planning Working Group, which reported to Government in February 2023, and the recommendations of the Report of the Review of the Administration of Civil Justice (known as the Peter Kelly Report), as set out in the Civil Justice Efficiencies and Reform Measures plan that I published in May 2022. These reform initiatives are aimed at enabling easier, cheaper and quicker access to justice for all citizens.