Many personal injury payouts to sharply fall under new guidelines Amounts awarded to be more in line with Northern Ireland, England and Wales
Sat, Feb 6, 2021, 01:00
The guidelines were circulated earlier this week to judges before being considered at a meeting of the Judicial Council on Friday, chaired by the Chief Justice Mr Justice Frank Clarke. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
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Proposed new guidelines for assessing damages for personal injuries are aimed at substantially reducing awards for lesser injuries, while catastrophic injuries will incur a small increase, according to a report seen by The Irish Times.
RTÉ Courts Reporter
The High Court has heard that a vulnerable woman who has severe anorexia must now be tube fed at home by her mother because of current pressure on hospital services.
The woman, who is in her 20s, was admitted to hospital last year after a serious drop in her weight and Body Mass Index (BMI). At the time she was also made a ward of court and orders were made to allow her to be fed by naso-gastric tube.
She had been allowed some periods of time at home but because of Covid-19 that home leave was extended and she now effectively remains at home, the court heard.
Challenging times as normal life in courts overturned
Updated / Sunday, 3 Jan 2021
07:19
Legal Affairs Correspondent
It took months to suppress the urge to stand up every time Dr Tony Holohan and his fellow NPHET doctors entered and left the large briefing room in the Department of Health.
As cases of Covid-19 rose and the normal business of life, including legal proceedings, was suspended, I was assigned to join the team of reporters covering the unfolding crisis.
But 14 years of having to stand whenever a judge entered or left a court room proved to be a hard habit to break.
When I think back on life before the pandemic took hold, the courts and the legal world formed a large part of it.
Wards of court to get Covid-19 vaccine in line with flu vaccine procedure, court told Department was replying to queries raised by High Court president, Ms Justice Mary Irvine
Mon, Dec 21, 2020, 21:13
The Covid-19 vaccine will be administered to wards of court in line with the same procedure by which wards get the annual flu vaccine, the Department of Health has told the High Court.
The department was replying by letter to queries raised by the High Court president, Ms Justice Mary Irvine, concerning the administration of the vaccine to wards.
There are more than 2,000 wards, most of whom are elderly and vulnerable people. A substantial number of wards are in nursing homes or other residential care facilities.