When Jack Hegarty was born just over 11 years ago, the joy his parents felt quickly melted to horror, pain and countless years of waiting for a government move to change to their lives.
Two hours after Jack was born at Cork University Maternity Hospital, he suffered catastrophic brain injuries for which he has been receiving treatment in San Francisco for the past eight years.
Today, Jack is 11, and requires constant care by his family in Kinsale. His parents, Jacinta and Justin, had to leave their careers to care for him full time.
Jacinta explains that Jack has few verbal skills and requires help with all aspects of daily life, including feeding, bathing, dressing and all elements of care.
He uses a wheelchair and has “dyskinetic cerebral palsy characterised predominantly by motor disability and co-ordination difficulties”.
In 2016, Jack, through his mum, settled his action against the HSE on terms including an interim payment in 2016. Further interim payments have been secured in the courts since then, with the case due back before the High Court in October.
Today, Jack is 11, and requires constant care by his family in Kinsale.
However, his parents had been hoping the Government would have signed a regulation enabling the commencement of a new index-lined Periodic Payment Order system by Christmas.
It would mean they could elect for that option next October and that would then be the last assessment for Jack. Otherwise, they are facing more assessments every few years until a workable Periodic Payment Order system is brought in.
Jacinta explains: “Periodic Payment Orders are an alternative to lump sum awards as a method of paying compensation to catastrophically injured people. Instead of receiving compensation in one tranche, a payment is made annually for as long as the person lives.
“The annual payment amount is calculated to meet the cost of permanent and long-term care and treatment. An indexation rate is applied to the annual payment amount to ensure that the amount keeps pace with inflation.”
The PPO system currently in place does not meet inflation and a working group set up to examine the issue in the wake of Jack’s 2016 case recommended a new index, but the regulations needed for its commencement have not yet been signed by the Government.
Jacinta Collins and Justin Hegarty, parents of Jack Hegarty, who have had to leave their careers to care for Jack full time. File picture: Collins Courts
A spokesman for the Department of Justice said: “Drafting of the necessary regulations is at an advanced stage and the minister hopes to be able to bring the regulations into operation shortly.”
Jacinta says a huge level of paperwork and assessments are required for each of the interim court cases, including for the case looming next October.
“I am missing out on valuable time with Jack and our family because I have spent so much of these past years preparing for these interim cases — co-ordinating assessments, reviewing records, and managing scheduling,” she said.
This is precious time I want to spend with Jack, but I cannot… More than anything, I just want to be a mother to my children.
She points out that the Report of the Interdepartmental Working Group on the Rising Cost of Health-Related Claims, published in July 2024, also states that the regulations will be “drafted and signed by end quarter 4, 2025″.
She said she was assured in October by minister for justice Jim O’Callaghan’s office that the drafting of the regulations was well advanced within the Office of the Attorney General and that “the minister expects to be in a position to sign the regulations in the coming weeks.”
However, she said: “It has now been another two months since that correspondence, and we have not received any update on whether the regulations have been signed.
“The families who depend on these regulations—my son Jack Hegarty and many other catastrophically injured children—cannot afford any additional postponement. Their daily lives, medical care, and future stability hinge on the protections that will only become effective once the regulations are signed.”
She added: “We are navigating this legal system since Jack was a baby… It is constant paperwork and if there had been a workable PPO in place all along, we would have been able to avail of that and we wouldn’t have to be going back to the courts.
“A lot of these assessments are traumatising for Jack. We are all traumatised.”