A severely disabled teenage boy who was awarded €9.8m in settlement of his action against the HSE has has his award increased to €13.3m as a result of a significant court decision affecting interest rates in such cases, writes Ann O’Loughlin.

Figures show that two-thirds of applications for Disability Allowance that were initially rejected were later granted on appeal.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has rejected calls in the Dáil to defer the scrapping of the mobility allowance and motorised transport grants until an alternative scheme is in place.

The Government has failed to guarantee that an alternate funding stream will be in place for people with disability next July when payments of existing mobility supports are due to end.