Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 April 2026
147. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide details of the number of legal actions against his Department that have been resolved without going to court in line with the 2023 State Litigation Principles; if his Department is fully applying the State Litigation Principles in seeking to resolve any current or outstanding legal actions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28842/26]
View answerOn the 21st June 2023 the Government announced the approval of the adoption of State Litigation Principles to serve as guidelines in the conduct of litigation by the State. The 15 litigation principles were drawn up by the Attorney General following consultations with senior legal staff in his office on the advisory side, in the Chief State Solicitor’s office and in the State Claims Agency. These Principles clearly articulated standards for the State and its lawyers in the conduct of legal proceedings. They marked a codification and public statement of best practice in the State’s conduct of litigation. At the time the Attorney General stressed that the Principles were not intended to radically change how the State conducts litigation as many of these Principles were already applied on a daily basis by the officials and lawyers charged with managing litigation on the State’s behalf. That fully reflects the position of my Department both before and after the introduction of the State Litigation Principles.
My Department seeks in all litigation against it to fully apply the State Litigation Principles and avails of the services of the Attorney General's Office, the Chief State Solicitor’s Office and the State Claims Agency in terms of the provision of legal advice and representation of the Department in court cases.
Legal Actions taken against the Department of Social Protection encompass a variety of matters including judicial reviews, statutory appeals, constitutional actions, plenary matters, employment law actions, equal status actions and personal injury actions.
As the Deputy will be aware, legal actions may be resolved in a variety of ways. These can include alternative dispute resolution, negotiated outcome, struck out, withdrawn, or for other reasons a legal action might not proceed to a full hearing. The resolution of legal actions is not limited to the proceedings being won, lost or settled. Resolution of proceedings may necessitate exchange of pleadings and number of appearances at mention dates in court even if the legal action is ultimately resolved without a full court hearing. The proceedings may be contested, and partly won or partly lost or entirely settled. The proceedings may be withdrawn by the applicant of their own volition before the case runs or on foot of an agreement between the parties. The proceedings may have become moot. Accordingly, the number and nature of possible resolutions to a legal action without going to court do not allow for a reliable figure to be provided with regard to those outcomes.
I can assure the Deputy that all legal actions are dealt with in accordance with all the State Litigation Principles. For the assistance of the Deputy, I include the figures of the number of Departmental litigation files opened referencing legal actions commenced against the Department since the State Litigation Principles were adopted:
|
Year |
Number of Departmental Litigation files referencing Legal Actions commenced against the Department of Social Protection since the introduction of the State Litigation Principles |
|
21st June 2023 to end of 2023 |
35 |
|
2024 |
76 |
|
2025 |
65 |
|
2026 (to date) |
12 |
The State, like any litigant, is entitled to defend its position and the fact that a matter proceeds to court and judgment can be the appropriate approach to take having had regard to legal advice. The State is entitled to rely on the same defences as any other litigant, but where consideration of different defences arises, the State shall consider where the interests of justice lie for all parties before relying on the defence.
