Claims

The SCA manages personal injury and property damage claims against certain State authorities, including the State itself, Ministers, the Attorney General, the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, prison governors, community and comprehensive schools and various other bodies listed in the Schedule to the Act.

The SCA's claims management objective - that claims should be managed so as to minimise the State's liability - has the following practical implications :

In cases where the State is considered liable or which involve an apportionment of liability as between the State and the claimant, the SCA's approach is to settle such claims expeditiously in so far as it is possible to do so on reasonable terms.
In cases where liability is fully disputed by the State, all necessary resources are applied to defending such claims robustly.

Under the Act, State authorities are obliged to report adverse incidents promptly to the SCA, to preserve and furnish relevant evidence and to facilitate the SCA's investigations. The SCA assumes ownership of claims from the point of first notification of adverse incidents right through to final resolution. Incidents are investigated in a thorough and timely fashion in order to facilitate early decision-making in relation to liability and strategy. The SCA uses panels of service providers, such as solicitors, medical consultants and engineers to provide expert advice on the State's behalf. Each claim is allocated a notional reserve and this is updated as new medical and other expert information becomes available. The SCA then decides, in relation to each claim, whether it should be contested in the Courts or whether settlement negotiations should begin.

Exclusions

The following classes of claim are expressly excluded from the SCA's remit :

Claims which gives rise to Constitutional issues.
Claims for compensation under the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Acts.
Claims against the Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform, the Garda Commissioner or a prison governor in respect of alleged assault by a member of the Garda Síochána or a prison officer.
Claims under the non-statutory scheme providing compensation for personal injury criminally inflicted on prison officers.
Claims arising from infection with Hepatitis C through the administration of blood or blood products.
Claims in which torts other than negligence are pleaded.

These classes of claim have been excluded either because alternative compensation arrangements have already been put in place by the Government or because they give rise to issues of legal policy which require the ongoing close involvement of the Attorney General.

Claims' Portfolio

Among the features of the claims' portfolio are as follows :

Some 61% of claims are from State employees. Of these, a third are by prison officers, another third by civil servants, 22% by members or ex-members of the Defence Forces and 12% by members of the Garda Síochána.
33% of claims are by members of the public.
Some 6% of claims relate to property damage; these typically involve damage to third-party vehicles by State vehicles.
Almost one-third of claims are from employees or ex-employees of the State who allege that they were exposed to asbestos in the course of their employment. The basis for these claims is the so-called 'worried well' syndrome i.e. alleged psychological trauma associated with potential rather than actual ill-health.