Data released to The Times under freedom of information legislation shows that 2,228 claims were settled by the local authority between 2018 and 2020.

The council paid out €13.2 million to settle 731 claims in 2018, €12.2 million to settle 853 claims in 2019 and €8 million to settle 644 claims last year.

Although the number of claims declined over the three years, the value of the highest claims increased from around €100,000 to around €200,000.

The vast majority of claims were from members of the public rather than council employees and include legal costs.