The number of cases being taken against the State increased from 6,000 in 2011 to 8,600 in 2016, which are the latest figures we have, and the compensation paid out increased by 20% in the last year for which we have figures. Almost 90%, the vast majority, of the State claims and compensation are in this area of health and childcare, through Tusla and the HSE. Does the Government have any plans to move to a legislative process which would have a no-fault medical liability system similar to what there is in New Zealand, Sweden and other countries so that we would not have to pay the legal costs and our patients would not have to go through the gruelling legal system which they are put through to prove cases of malpractice? Does the Government have any intention to move towards that system of covering for cases of malpractice rather than the gruelling and expensive legal system we use?

There are no plans in that regard.

Would the Minister think about it?