Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 June 2026
873. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health if she has received confirmation that consultants on the public-only consultant contract are covered by the State's clinical indemnity scheme for private work carried out in public hospitals, in breach of their contracts; to confirm if the scheme applies to entire hospitals rather than individual consultants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45115/26]
View answerThe State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury and third-party property damage claims on behalf of State authorities.
The Clinical Indemnity Scheme (CIS) is based on the concept of enterprise liability whereby the health enterprise/hospital is indemnified in respect of the vicarious liability of its employees, whether hospital consultants, NCHDs, nurses, midwives, or allied healthcare professionals. Thus, hospital consultants who are legacy contract holders, possessing contractual rights to a mixture of public and private practice in a public hospital, are indemnified by the CIS which indemnifies their employing hospitals. Public hospitals which employ consultant doctors in the care and treatment of patients, no matter what contract the employee consultant doctors hold, are indemnified by the CIS. Because the CIS indemnifies the health enterprise/hospital in respect of its vicarious liability for consultant doctors, it does not and cannot draw a distinction between contract holders.
Public only obstetric consultants, who do not have an entitlement to private practice in public hospitals, may conduct private practice at an off-site health facility but such private obstetric practice is not covered by the CIS as it is not subsumed under the concept of enterprise liability. The public only contract holder obstetrician who conducts private practice at an off-site facility must purchase indemnity, from a Medical Defence Organisation or insurer, for such private practice.
