Lawyers for 100 Consultants Seek Legal Costs from State After 2018 Settlement

Lawyers representing 100 consultant doctors are seeking orders for legal costs incurred in actions against the HSE and the State for alleged contract breaches. These cases stem from a 2018 High Court settlement where consultants received corrected and retrospective remuneration due to the State's failure to pay them in line with a 2008 contract. The settlement agreement included a mechanism for hundreds of other consultants to settle on the same terms.

Barrister John Rogers, representing 100 consultants, informed Judge Siobhán Stack that legal costs remain unresolved. He seeks an order for his clients’ legal costs against the State respondents. Rogers noted that the settlement agreement provided for cost orders against State defendants for non-test case consultants. The legal costs adjudicator began processing these costs in November 2024, and the State Claims Agency is reviewing the cases.

Rogers expressed urgency, citing eight years since the settlement, and offered a senior solicitor's oral evidence to confirm his clients' settlements. Niall O’Driscoll, barrister for the State, requested an adjournment to confirm with the HSE that the consultants seeking costs had indeed settled their cases by signing letters of consent. Rogers called it «extraordinary» that the HSE had not informed the State of these settlements. The HSE was not present at Tuesday’s hearing.

Judge Stack granted a one-month adjournment, deeming it reasonable to allow the State defendants time to confirm the settlements. Rogers protested, arguing that his clients’ cases settled years ago, which should have automatically triggered cost orders per the agreement, likening the process to «getting through the Strait of Hormuz.»