asked the Minister for the Environment the total amount of money paid by the State to individuals as a result of settlements made by them under the Malicious Damages Act for the years 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984.

Money is not paid by the State to individuals under the Malicious Injuries Act. However, I can tell the Deputy that in the four year period in question a total of £26.36 million was paid by the State in partial recoupment of local authority payments in respect of malicious injuries. The local authority payments were made on foot of both court decrees and out-of-court settlements.