The High Court has refused to decide a damages-related legal issue in advance of the full trial of a medical negligence claim brought by a child against the Health Service Executive over treatment at St Luke’s General Hospital in Kilkenny.
Oonagh Cahill, suing through her father Ian Cahill, alleges that delays in diagnosing intracranial pathology or hydrocephalus shortly after her birth in January 2020 caused severe brain injury and lifelong disabilities. The HSE contests liability and causation.
By motion dated 3 July 2025, the plaintiff asked the court to determine a preliminary question concerning the personal injury discount rate used to calculate lump-sum damages for future losses. The proposed issue was whether taxes and duties payable on income earned from invested damages, or on the damages themselves, should be factored into that calculation.
In judgment delivered on 13 November 2025, Mr Justice Gillane refused the application.
The judge said the normal starting point is a single trial dealing with all issues together. A preliminary question should generally save time and costs, be capable of being separated from disputed facts and materially reduce what remains to be decided.
Those conditions were not met here. Liability and causation remained fully contested. The parties did not agree on the factual material needed to resolve the discount-rate question and even disagreed on whether expert evidence would be required.
The court also noted an outstanding contested motion concerning genetic testing, together with anticipated evidence from an economist and actuary.
Mr Justice Gillane said deciding the discount-rate issue separately might lengthen rather than shorten the litigation. As it concerned damages only, it could not end the case and might never need to be decided if the HSE succeeded on liability or causation.
The motion for a preliminary issue was therefore refused. The substantive medical negligence claim remains to be tried.