€15.7m paid out by Cork County Council’s insurers in public liability claims since start of 2024

Cork County Council’s insurers have paid out €15.7m in public liability claims since the start of 2024.

Figures provided to The Echo, on foot of a Freedom of Information request, show that in 2024 the local authority paid out €13.8m — including €9m for a 2011 claim — but that in the first nine months of 2025 there was a reduction in both costs and claims paid.

In total, 740 claims were settled in the 21-month period. The majority of these — 86% or 636 claims — were related to potholes; 87 (12%) to footpaths (slips/trips/falls); and 17 were listed as “other”.

In 2024, 400 claims were related to potholes, 44 to footpaths, and 10 categorised as other.

A spokesperson for the council said: “Please note that Cork County Council does not pay the compensation claims; it is our insurers, IPB Insurance, that pay. It should be noted that the figure for 2024 is high due to the settlement/payment of two large claims, one from 2011, for approximately €8.9m, and one from 2012, for approximately €2.5m.”

In 2025, up to September 30, the insurers paid out €1,980,281. There were 236 claims related to potholes, 43 to footpaths, with seven others.

The 2024 total equates to an average of €1,145,645 a month, while 2025 saw an 85% reduction to €220,031 on average per month.

While there has been a dramatic reduction in costs, this year has also seen a drop in the number of claims settled, from an average of 38 a month to 32. Pothole-related claims paid out have dropped significantly from an average of 34 a month in 2024 to 26 a month this year, though footpath claims have increased slightly from 3.6 to 4.7.

It comes as the 2024 local authority performance indicator report by the National Oversight and Audit Committee revealed that Cork county had the highest per capita costs of settled claims for 2024 at €38.19.

Records requested by The Echo in relation to the reason, the date of claims made and date they were paid out, and the amount paid out in each public liability claim “would involve the release of information that could allow the identity of a third party to be inferred”, so could not be released, the council said.

It comes as The Echo previously revealed that Cork City Council paid out €3.3m in insurance claims between 2024 and 2025 to September, with the largest number of these claims relating to roads and footpaths.

Almost €2.2m was paid out for 200 claims during 2024, with a further €1.1m paid out on 99 claims so far in 2025.

Barry O’Hare, the council’s chief financial officer, said that in 2024, a total of 228 claims were received: Four relating to council buildings; 23 related to drains, gulleys, and chamber covers; 65 concerning footpaths and walkways; 24 about housing and estates; one for parks and playgrounds; and 111 for roads, including potholes.

In 2025 to September, 122 insurance claims had been received. These claims were broken down into 12 for drains, gulleys, and chamber covers; 25 relating to footpaths and walkways; 12 for housing and estates; one in the area of parks and playgrounds; 71 on roads; and one on signage.

The council noted that over that period 299 payments totalling €3,316,765 were made, and the average payment per claim was €11,093. Claims related to footpaths proved to be the most expensive, averaging €23,601 each.