The High Court awarded Eoin O’Mahony €10,027,596 in outstanding special damages arising from catastrophic brain injuries caused by negligent surgical procedures at Cork University Hospital in November 2001. The award, made against the Health Service Executive, took immediate effect and was accompanied by costs, taxable in default of agreement.
Mr O’Mahony, described in the judgment as a person of unsound mind not so found, sued through his mother and next friend, Karen O’Mahony. The judgment assessed the remaining disputed special damages after earlier agreements and interim payments. The parties had put their respective residual claims at €10,622,408 and €8,202,290. The court confined its assessment to that range to avoid double counting payments already made for his care.
The court assessed recurring annual costs at €633,380: €69,100 in agreed items, €513,000 for care, €21,670 in items from occupational therapist Linda Horgan’s report and €29,610 in items from accountant Declan Lynch’s report. Applying the agreed multiplier of 15.7723 produced €9,989,859. A further €37,737 in one-off costs brought the award to €10,027,596.
Among the recurring items allowed were €13,000 a year for a case manager, €8,000 for occupational and assistive technology services, and €3,000 for music therapy. The judge reduced or declined other claims where costs were considered excessive, insufficiently supported or unnecessary. The one-off items included emergency care costs incurred by the family and the Irish Wheelchair Association, and equipment and reports relating to communication systems.
The court refused the plaintiff’s application for interest, taking account of payments on account and the chronology of the case. It approved the retention of two senior counsel for the plaintiff, while noting that taxation should allow for days when counsel were absent for the duration of a hearing day. In light of a recent Court of Appeal decision that could require reassessment, both sides were given liberty to apply.
The proceedings concerned the assessment of damages, not a fresh determination of liability. The judgment records that liability had been admitted in 2010. It also notes that a prior judgment in March 2015 addressed disputed structural issues in the care required, and that an indicative ruling on care costs was given in July 2015.