€15 million awarded to Dunkineely boy injured at birth

The High Court has approved a €15m settlement for a four-year-old boy who was catastrophically injured during his birth at the Coombe Hospital in Dublin.
The hospital apologised to Eoin McCallig from Dunkineely in Donegal, and his parents for his injuries and for the devastating consequences for the family.
RTE is reporting that speaking outside the court, Eoin’s father, Anthony, said the family could forgive a mistake, but they could not forgive the way the HSE dealt with their family and others in such cases.
Eoin McCallig was born on November 24th 2012 at the Coombe Hospital in Dublin.
The court heard the Coombe Hospital stopped monitoring Eoin’s heart rate at 9.30am on the morning of his birth. His parents alleged that if he had been monitored further, medical staff would have seen he was in distress.
Eoin was born at around 11.30am and the court heard he had been deprived of oxygen in the 20 minutes just before he was born. As a result, he cannot walk or talk, and can communicate only with his eyes and expressions.
If he had been monitored and delivered early, he would not have suffered such injuries, the court heard.
RTE is reporting that Eoin’s rfather Anthony told the court that the HSE had spent €800 million over the last ten years in fighting these cases and he said the money could be put to better use.
Mr Justice Kelly agreed there must be a better way than litigation to the bitter end.