A thirteen-year-old boy has been awarded compensation for brain damage at birth following a hearing at the High Court in Dublin.
Ryan Brennan from Cahir, County Tipperary, was born in January 2000 at the St Joseph´s Hospital in Clonmel several hours after a foetal trace had discovered abnormalities in his heart rate. Ryan had to be resuscitated after he was born and throughout the day suffered seizures.
Ryan developed cerebral palsy as a result of the complications during his birth and it was alleged by his parents – Lorraine and Raymond – that his injuries could have been avoided if the hospital´s consultant obstetrician – Dr Brendan Powell – and staff at the hospital had acted with greater care.
On behalf of their son, Lorraine and Raymond made a claim for brain damage at birth against Dr Powell and the Health Service Executive (HSE), claiming that Ryan´s irreversible brain damage was attributable to a failure to act, negligence, a breach of duty by Dr Powell and a breach of contract by the hospital.
Both Dr Powell and the HSE denied responsibility for the brain damage suffered by Ryan but, at the High Court, Ms Justice Mary Irvine was told that an interim settlement of compensation for brain damage at birth had been agreed upon without admission of liability from either of the two allegedly negligent party and that the claim against Dr Powell could be struck out.
The interim payment, which is for two years to allow for a review of Ryan´s future needs or the introduction of a structured payment system, amounts to €1.7 million – a sum which Ms Justine Mary Irvine described as ‘in the upper parameters of these types of cases’ as she approved the temporary settlement.