MINISTER FOR HEALTH James Reilly said today the government has received the settlement sum of €45 million from the UK based Medical Defence Union (MDU) following its agreement earlier this year.

MDU had been paid by medical consultants, whose subscriptions were subsidised by the Department of Health, to provide indemnity cover in the case of compensation claims.

Payment of compensation in respect of liabilities for medical negligence claims were at the MDU’s discretion and when the State Claims Agency was set up, the MDU refused to cover many cases, leaving the tax payer to foot the bill.

Speaking today, Reilly said action had to be taken “in order to ensure that no person who had suffered from a medical mishap in Ireland would be left without compensation and no consultant would be left without cover in all reasonable circumstances”.

Earlier this year the government approved the €45 million cash lump sum settlement “in order to bring to an end the long-standing dispute,” Reilly said.

He said liability claims will now be managed by the State Claims Agency.

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