A four-year-old boy who has been left severely brain damaged after a failure to diagnose and treat a bacterial infection in time has settled his High Court action with an interim payout of €2.4m.

Families who have raised concerns about standards of care at Portiuncla Hospital in Galway are expected to be given a draft report on the issue this week.

A consultant physician and cardiologist at Portiuncla Hospital in Ballinasloe Dr John Barton has said that there will have to be major changes at smaller hospitals in Ireland.

Two people are dead after separate overnight road accidents.