By Tom Douglas
Hosptials have paid out close to €1bn in compensation in the past four years, following personal injury claims.
Figures released to Cork East TD Sean Sherlock under parliamentary question show the seven hospital groups paid over €215m each year since 2018
Over the nation's seven hospital groups €977m has been paid out in compensation since 2018.
It covers damages taken out by members of the public against hospitals but it doesn't include legal fees.
The biggest awards were in the South - SouthWest Group - which includes University Hospital Waterford.
It saw it's totals almost treble over the course of the last four years.
In 2018 it paid 38 million, which rose to 57m a year later. It increased again to 78 million in 2020 and finally it was met with a bill of 114 million euro last year.
Those costs were driven up sharply by the increase in clinical care cases taken against the group's hospitals over that period.
The Government has set up an expert group to examine how claims are managed.
