Cork woman left with 'massive brain damage' after crash claims €1m in loss of earnings

Cork County Council have described the woman's claim as "extremely spurious"

(Left to right) Olivia Redmond-O’Callaghan's stepfather Liam Power and his wife Norma Redmond Power. Photo: Collins Courts

A young mother of three who was catastrophically injured when the car her husband was driving collided with a tractor on a Cork road has claimed €1million in loss of earnings, the High Court has heard.

Counsel for Cork County Council, Fergus O’Hagan SC, told the High Court the claim in the case of Olivia Redmond-O’Callaghan for €1million in loss of earnings was “extremely spurious that goes to the credibility of the entire case". 

Counsel in a submission to the court told Mr Justice Tony O’Connor when an application was made to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board in 2013 in this case there was no claim for loss of earnings, but he said later €744,000 “came out of the blue“ and this, he said, has since escalated to €1million.

Olivia Redmond-O’Callaghan was only 28 years of age and left with massive brain damage and needing 24-hour care for the rest of her life after the accident on the old Glanmire to Cork Road in 2011.

Her counsel, Dr John O’Mahony SC, previously told the High Court the mother of two who was pregnant with her third child at the time of the accident suffered massive brain damage which has “rendered her totally incapacitated.” 

She has been left, he said, with a “most appalling repertoire of profoundly serious injuries” and does not recognise her children. Her husband Myles O’Callaghan, who was driving the car when it collided with a tractor, lost his life in the accident.

In the second day of the hearing where Mrs Redmond-O’Callaghan has sued her late husband’s estate, the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) and Cork County Council over the accident, Mr Justice O’Connor was told the issue of loss of earnings was a highly contentious aspect of the case.

Counsel for the MIBI, Edward Walsh SC, said Mrs Redmond O’Callaghan had not worked for three years before the accident. He said he fully accepted that the case involved one of the most profound injuries you could imagine but he said Ms Redmond O‘Callaghan had no insight and he argued in that case she was not entitled to general damages only special damages such as care.

Mr Walsh also contended liability should be heard first in the case.

Claim and counter-claim

Olivia Redmond O’Callaghan who is now aged 37 from Gowlane South, Donoughmore, Co. Cork, has taken her action through her stepfather Liam Power.

Against Cork County Council it is claimed it constructed a public roadway which was allegedly defective and dangerous to road users.

The road, it was claimed, was constructed with a very tight bend with a radius of curvature which was allegedly below the minimum acceptable standard.

High vegetation, it was further alleged, was permitted to grow on the embankment of the road which allegedly restricted forward visibility and there was an alleged failure to erect any proper warning signs.

The accident, Cork County Council claims, was caused by the alleged negligence of the late Mr O’Callaghan about the driving, speed, care, management and control of the car in which his wife was a passenger.

The MIBI, in its defence, has claimed Mrs Redmond-O’Callaghan allegedly failed to have any regard for her own safety and permitted herself to be carried in a car for which she allegedly knew there was no valid insurance policy in place.

Mr Justice O’Connor will on Thursday hear further submissions on certain issues around the management of the case which is expected to last six weeks.