Legal

State’s controversial legal strategy ‘active and ongoing’, lawyers say

Government strategy of fighting cases outside courts and settling them before the details become public are commonplace, says a leading children’s lawyer

Some families took cases against the state when they had to pay for private nursing home care despite their loved ones having a medical card. Picture: Getty

Legal strategies to secretly settle cases relating to children and vulnerable people wronged by the state are an active and ongoing tactic by government departments, two leading legal experts have said.

The government is under mounting pressure over the use of the strategy to fight cases outside the courts and settle them before their details became public in relation to people wrongly charged for nursing homes stays.

Speaking to the Business Post, Gareth Noble, leading ...