Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 April 2026
29. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Defence to provide details of the number of legal actions against her Department that have been resolved without going to court in line with the 2023 State Litigation Principles; if her Department is fully applying the State Litigation Principles in seeking to resolve any current or outstanding legal actions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28831/26]
View answerThe ‘State Litigation Principles 2023’ were drafted by the Attorney General to act as guidelines to assist the State in maintaining “high standards of ethics and integrity in the conduct of litigation”.
While each case is assessed on an individual basis, my Department endeavours at all times to conduct litigation in line with the principles set out in the document ‘State Litigation Principles 2023’.
For a settlement or other agreement to be reached, both parties to proceedings must agree on the terms of same. It is a matter for individual plaintiffs, having the benefit of their own independent legal advice, to decide whether to accept or reject any proposals in this regard.
At the start of 2023 my Department had 495 litigation cases on hands. Since that date, 443 cases have been closed and 439 of these closed cases were resolved without requiring a court hearing.
These figures are accurate as of 20th April 2026.
