John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is no doubt familiar with the case of Dylan Gaffney Hayes from Waterford who suffered serious injuries leading to cerebral palsy at his birth in 2007. A case of medical negligence was taken by his parents and it took three years for the HSE to admit liability, after which the family had to wait another year for damages to be assessed. The damages hearing took 11 days, which was a harrowing experience for the family, particularly Dylan's mother, Jean, who was forced to relive on the stand the whole ordeal of her little boy's birth. Prior to the case being taken, an independent medical investigation concluded that Dylan's injuries were due to mismanagement of his mother's labour, but the State Claims Agency put in a defence denying this. Three years later, at a substantial cost in legal fees and huge emotional cost to the family, the court upheld the original findings of the medical investigation.

The HSE has paid out €255 million in legal fees since 2005 contesting negligence cases, which is approximately 40% of the overall cost of such claims. Ten barristers shared an outrageous €3.15 million in fees relating to medical negligence cases last year, all of which were settled out of court.

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