Child who became ill after suspected E.coli outbreak compensated by creche

Ireland’s largest privately-owned childcare facility, which was closed for a brief period by the HSE because of a suspected E.coli outbreak in September 2017, has agreed to compensate a child who suffered an allegedly connected illness at the time, a court has heard.Barrister Niall O’Driscoll told Judge Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin in the Circuit Civil Court that he was recommending it approve an €18,500 settlement offer by Junior Genius Childcare Limited to now 11-year-old Freyja Byrne of Curragh Meadows, Naas, Co Kildare.The barrister said that following an investigation by the HSE of a suspected E.coli infection among children at the creche in Castlebagot House, Baldonnell, in south Co Dublin, the 10-acre facility had been temporarily closed. He told the judge that following the publication of a report by the Department of Health doctors felt there appeared to be little doubt that she had contracted the potentially life-threatening VTEC (Verotoxigent Escherichia coli) infection, although a consultant occupational physician, Martin Hogan, pointed out that the diagnosis was not certain.READ MOREHe said that while the official report on the matter left little doubt that Freyja had contracted “this nasty illness in Junior Genius Childcare facility”, he pointed out that VTEC and other gastrointestinal infections were well-known hazards in a childcare facility.O’Driscoll, who presented the proposed settlement on behalf of fellow barrister Helen O’Driscoll and Cork-based solicitors TJ Hegarty, said that a full personal injuries defence had been entered on behalf of Junior Genius Childcare, which had denied any liability.The judgeheard it had been alleged the childcare facility had substandard procedures and protocols in place to prevent the person to person spread of an infection.Counsel said that before a diagnosis of E.coli at Crumlin Children’s Hospital in early September 2017, Freyja had been treated over some weeks for a number of other potential illnesses including food poisoning. She had made a good recovery from what had been an extremely distressing and worrying time for her and her mother, Stephanie Herbert, and now lived a normal life.Barrister Helen O’Driscoll, in a legal opinion prepared for the court, said the proceedings predated the implementation of Judicial Council guidelines and fell to be assessed under the earlier Book of Quantum system.While this did not deal with the contraction of infectious diseases it was appropriate to look at the section dealing with “food poisoning” where similar symptoms flowed. She was satisfied as to the adequacy of the offer of settlement.The judge, approving the offer, said that although there had been a full resolution of symptoms within five months, the matter had proved “a terrifying experience” for Freyja and her parents.