If the Duffy family are forced to sell their home to pay €500,000 in legal costs after losing a case against the National Maternity Hospital, it could cost the State €2m to care for their severely disabled son, Mark, for the rest of his life.

The High Court has today dismissed a medical negligence claim brought on behalf of a child with profound physical and mental difficulties against the National Maternity Hospital.

Gardaí have appealed to the public for information after a man was beaten up during an armed burglary in Dublin this morning.