ALMOST 26.6 million has been paid in legal costs and compensation to gardaí injured on duty over the last three years, according to figures provided by Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan to the Public Accounts Committee.
Last year, over €7.1 million was paid in awards and costs in 120 cases. This is a drop on 2011′s figure of almost €6 million in more than 170 cases.
Over the three year period detailed in the letter from Callinan to the committee, legal costs reached over €8.2 million. The average award last year was €59, 685 – up from €34, 388 in 2011.
In the letter from Callinan to the committee, he said it is envisaged that there will be “significant cost savings to the State” in the form of reduced legal fees and an improvement in the timeline in which claims are dealt with, following the transfer of claims under the Garda Compensation Act to the State Claims Agency.
The highest individual legal cost in any case last year was €271,561 with the letter noting that a small number of test cases were selected and concerns raised by the judge presiding over the hearing of cases in 2011.
“The judge had concern at the increase in the number of claims arising out of the fear of contacting a blood borne virus which did not appear to be warranted from the medical evidence in such cases,” Callinan said. “These cases required employment of senior council, lengthy written submissions on points of law and represent applicants in week long trial with medical expert witnesses.”
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