The High Court has set interim care funding of €756,587.48 for a woman with severe brain injuries, covering three years of care. The decision resolved only the amount to be provided for her care during that period; the parties agreed to defer a final award for a further three years because her life expectancy evidence was uncertain and they hoped legislation would permit periodic payments.
Liability had already been admitted. Earlier interim settlements provided €2,395,080 in 2011 and a further €310,000 in 2013 for specified heads of claim. The parties had reached agreement on other matters before this hearing, leaving the woman’s care costs for the next three years for the court to decide.
The woman developed an intracranial abscess in February 2007, causing lasting brain injuries. At the time of the judgment she lived in a rented Sutton apartment, with plans to move with her partner and daughter into an adapted home in Kilbarrack. The judgment describes her as wheelchair-bound most of the time, with impaired balance, epilepsy and severe cognitive difficulties. She needed help with most daily activities and faced a risk of falling.
The main dispute was how much two-carer support she needed. The judge found that two carers were required whenever she was outside her home, particularly to help her use toilets and transfer from her wheelchair to ordinary seating safely and with dignity. The judge rejected the proposed use of a portable transfer device as a practical substitute. At home, one carer was generally sufficient, apart from brief rollator exercise that could be scheduled while two carers were present.
The award provides one carer around the clock, with a lead personal assistant for two hours each weekday. It adds a second carer for seven hours a day Monday to Friday, six hours on Saturdays and five hours on Sundays. The calculation also includes two weeks of holiday care each year with two carers during the day and one overnight, €2,000 in additional holiday costs, and €75 a week for carers’ food and admission charges. The court allowed a management fee of 2.5%, and case management fees of €17,000 in year one and €12,000 in each of years two and three.
The judgment calculates year-one care costs at €255,529.16 and the costs for each of years two and three at €250,529.16. The resulting three-year total is €756,587.48. This was an interim determination of care funding, not a final award of damages in the proceedings.