The HSE has spent more than €255m on legal fees since 2005 to fight negligence cases in the courts, according to an Independent TD who is calling for an overhaul of how such claims are handled.

The HSE is paying solicitors €207 an hour to tell courts it can’t afford to compensate patients for damage caused to them in hospitals.

Jean and Thomas Gaffney fought the HSE for five years as they sought justice for their son, Dylan. They tell their story to Catherine Shanahan to expose the struggle faced by parents brave enough to take on the State.

A Swords plumber who stabbed a Howth publican in the leg causing him serious injuries after being ejected from his pub has been sentenced to four years in prison at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.