City council spends €1m on 47 claims linked to falls

Cork City Council has spent almost €1m dealing with 47 claims linked to trips and falls since the start of 2011.

Figures released under Freedom of Information show from the start of 2011 to the end of last month, Cork City Council received 303 personal injury claims from incidents arising on public roads and paths, parks, and open spaces.

Of those, 168 related to incidents on the city’s northside, as opposed to 98 in the southside of the city and just 37 in the city centre.

The council said legal proceedings were initiated in 125 cases. Of those, claims were upheld in 47 cases and 50 cases were either thrown out or dropped. Total expenditure on the claims up to Jul 31 last was €845,129.

In a statement, the council said: “In its handling of public liability claims the City Council is cognisant and aware of the potential for spurious, exaggerated or fraudulent claims.

“All claims are subject to thorough investigation. The council continues to have success in having claims dismissed by the courts.

“During the period under review, the council was awarded a total of 21 dismissals in claims brought to trial.

“Of the claims reported in the period, the council has closed a further 25 claims without making a payout.”

Referring to the smaller number of claims arising from alleged incidents in the city centre, a council spokesman said it was a relatively small geographical area compared with the north and southside areas and suburbs, and the greater number of claims originating from the city’s northside was “due to the topography coupled with the fact they are older estates generally. The City Centre category figures had seen an improvement in recent years since the regeneration of the streets/footpaths.”

Dublin City Council dealt with 274 claims last year linked to trips and falls on footpaths, with 42 of those relating to incidents that took place in Dublin 2 and another 39 alleged to have taken place in Dublin 1.

Overall, it had 1,058 claims, of which 594 were personal injury claims. There were 399 claims for property damage and 65 of employer liability.