Dianne Willmore, who passed from mesothelioma in 2009, won a landmark £240,000 case, holding Knowsley Borough Council liable for her asbestos exposure during school. Her case prompted legal and financial ramifications for local authorities nationwide, leading to increased awareness and changes in asbestos-related negligence proceedings.
Shane Flynn, 35, owner of a Mullingar clinic, was convicted of sexual assault after inappropriately touching a client seeking back pain relief. The investigation also revealed 18 hours of footage showing Flynn secretly filming 35 women during massages, raising further concerns about his conduct and abuse of trust within his practice.
Naveed Rana, a Dublin taxi driver, was sentenced to five and a half years for the assault of an 18-year-old woman after a night out. The court heard how Rana took advantage of the victim’s trust, driving erratically and assaulting her before being apprehended due to her quick actions in reporting the incident to Gardaí.
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In January 2020, the HSE introduced a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for assessing applications for Assessments of Needs (AON) for children. This provided that assessment would take place in two stages- firstly by desktop, and secondly, a preliminary assessment consisting of one hour of observed play time and a 30-minute discussion with the parent(s) or guardian. The result of this assessment was that a child was asked to determine whether or not the child had a disability but did not diagnose the disability. The SOP determined only whether the child had a “substantial restriction”. Before the introduction of the SOP, the practice of the HSE was to carry out a full assessment of the child for diagnosis. This is due to significant resource issues involved in that process, and the HSE decided to replace this with their SOP.
In March 2022, two applicants successfully challenged the HSE’s adopted policy in the High Court in cases brought forward by their mothers. Standards for AON’s had previously been adopted by HIQA in 2007 and required that such assessments be “comprehensive, accurate and up to date”. The applicants argued that the assessments should be carried out without restrictions on budget or capacity and that without a diagnosis, an appropriate assessment of needs could not be made. The HSE rejected this argument.
Ms. Justice Siobhan Phelan found in favour of the applicants. She stated, “ In order to assess whether a disability within the meaning of (the act) is present, it is therefore necessary to determine a cause of the restriction”. The Court found that a child’s needs required full assessment to provide appropriate care. Ms. Justice Phelan also stated that the preliminary assessment that formed the SOP did not align with HIQA’s objective of “comprehensive, accurate and up to date” reports. Ultimately, the Court found that the SOP adopted by the HSE in 2020 was not in accordance with the 2005 Act. Therefore, a comprehensive assessment of a child’s needs was necessary, and this could only be done with a proper diagnosis.
Shane Flynn, 35, owner of a Mullingar clinic, was convicted of sexual assault after inappropriately touching a client seeking back pain relief. The investigation also revealed 18 hours of footage showing Flynn secretly filming 35 women during massages, raising further concerns about his conduct and abuse of trust within his practice.
Naveed Rana, a Dublin taxi driver, was sentenced to five and a half years for the assault of an 18-year-old woman after a night out. The court heard how Rana took advantage of the victim’s trust, driving erratically and assaulting her before being apprehended due to her quick actions in reporting the incident to Gardaí.
Pat Murphy, a 34-year-old father, died after a ruptured artery went undiagnosed at Cork University Hospital. Despite suffering severe chest pains, he faced a nine-hour wait for a CT scan, delayed further by a malfunctioning machine. His family claims this delay contributed to his tragic death.
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