High Court case struck out as Ms Y and HSE reach agreement

A three-day case between Ms Y and the HSE was expected to begin in Dublin yesterday, but barristers acting for both parties agreed that it could be struck out.

The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, was told by Richard Kean SC for Ms Y and Maurice Collins SC for the HSE that the matter could be struck out with no further order required.

Ms Y is an asylum seeker who arrived in Ireland in early 2014 and unsuccessfully sought an abortion after discovering that she had become pregnant as a result of rape in her home country.

The court action was intended to “quash” an HSE report which was compiled following an inquiry which began in August 2014.

In a statement made on behalf of Ms Y, solicitor Caoimhe Haughey said this “has now effectively been achieved”.

Ms Y’s representatives maintain that she was unable to participate in the HSE inquiry due to ill health and she refused to accept its findings.

Ms Haughey added that Ms Y will “advance her case for damages expeditiously”.

A spokesperson for the HSE told the Irish Times that “following an agreement between lawyers for Ms Y and the HSE, the case did not proceed to court and has been struck out”.