Judge questions bid for higher payouts from compensation award

An application to increase a man's annual payment as a ward of court should be reconsidered after some €91,000 of his multimillion euro compensation settlement was spent on cars in previous years, the President of the High Court said.

The man is seeking to have his annual payment more than doubled, from €55,0000 to €123,000.

The man obtained the settlement as a young adult several years ago and was made a ward whereby the High Court oversees how it is managed.

The settlement was reached against the HSE in proceedings by the man alleging, as a result of negligence in the circumstances of his birth, he was left disabled and requiring 24-hour care.

When he was made a ward of court, his mother was appointed to act as a “committee” which can ask the court for certain payouts from the settlement fund.

On Monday, lawyers for the committee asked Mr Justice Peter Kelly to approve increasing his annual payment in circumstances where the mother, who must provide him with 24/7 care, wanted to return to work.

‘Multiple issues’

The man has “multiple issues” related to his birth injuries and had also developed epilepsy, the judge was told.

That meant someone had to be with him at all times should he have a seizure which can be caused by sudden loud noises, the lawyer for the committee said.

Mr Justice Kelly said the court was prepared to approve funds to ensure a reasonable lifestyle, but it had to have regard to the impact of payouts on the longer-term value of the money available to him.

The judge said €91,475 was previously spent on cars without the approval of the court and another €25,000 payment was approved in 2016. “That’s an awful lot of money for cars over a period of a years,” he said.

He said he was adjourning the case for four weeks to allow revised proposals to be brought forward.

He did not wish to appear “parsimonious” but he thought a reasonable lifestyle could be achieved “for substantially less than €123,000”, the judge said.