A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Woman sues over womb removal
A woman who claims her womb was unnecessarily removed during an operation at University College Hospital, Galway, has told the High Court a gynaecologist told her that if she did not have the operation, she would "simply die", the High Court was told yesterday.
Julia Shuit (52), of Oakfield, Oughterard, Co Galway, has taken an action for damages against Dr Michael Mylotte, a consultant obstetrician/ gynaecologist; David O'Keeffe, a consultant radiologist; Dr John Winters of Church Road, Moycullen, Co Galway, and the Western Health Board.
All of the defendants have denied negligence in their treatment of Ms Shuit.
Ms Shuit, who gave evidence yesterday, claims that, on October 15th, 1997, Dr Mylotte wrote to her stating that the final tests revealed she did not have cancer at all but simply pre-cancerous change. He had also said the CT scan suggestion of a tumour in the cervix and lymph nodes was also incorrect and that he had no doubt she never had cancer.
The statement of claim further submits that Dr Mylotte had written: "If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have treated you so extensively."
Mother used stick to beat daughter
A woman who beat her four-year-old daughter with a stick because, she said, she was stressed after her asylum application was refused, has received a three-year suspended prison sentence. She also claimed that children in Romania were regularly struck in this manner.
Judge Desmond Hogan, at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, said the treatment of the young girl was "nothing more or less than a brutal assault committed by a mother on her daughter who was of tender years".
The child's father, who denied ever striking her but accepted he was aware her mother was mistreating her, received a 12-month sentence which Judge Hogan backdated to April 19th last and suspended the balance for two years.
He sentenced the mother to three years in prison which he suspended on condition that she keep the peace and be of good behaviour for three years.
The child was put into care following the investigation and the father has been in custody since April 2004. The mother has moved to Co Tipperary.
Offender denies failing to register
A man who left England after being convicted of indecently assaulting a child yesterday denied failing to register here as a sex offender.
Liam O'Brien (46), from Manchester and now of no fixed address, denied the charge under Section 10 of the Sex Offenders Act, 2001, claiming he had received advice that because his offence predated this law, it was not required.
He moved to the Republic in November 2000 and lived for a while in a Rathmines B&B before working in a Dublin city bar and as a coach driver and then moving to the Charles Stewart Hotel, Parnell Square, where he claimed he arranged with two managers to pay "lump sums" for his accommodation every so often.
Judge Bridget Reilly adjourned a decision in Dublin District Court pending further legal submissions. She also adjourned, also for legal submissions, a charge against Mr O'Brien of running up a €2,410 bill at the hotel and failing to pay.
Controversial nursing home is up for sale
The controversial Leas Cross nursing home in north Co Dublin, which closed earlier this year after health service authorities withdrew public patients, is to be sold, writes Martin Wall.
Owner John Aherne yesterday confirmed to The Irish Times that the premises had been placed on the market. He declined to comment on a possible sale price.
The complex, comprising two buildings on 4.5 acres, is available for sale or for lease.
Mr Aherne said yesterday the Health Service Executive (HSE) was seeking to remove the licence from the nursing home. He said that he would appeal any such move. Leas Cross is currently registered for 111 patients.
"The situation is that we have receieved correspondence from the HSE stating that they are going for a removal of the licence for Leas Cross. Our state of play is that we are going to appeal that," he said.
The nursing home closed down in August after the HSE withdrew public patients from accommodation it was financing at the facility.
Waste charges for Dublin to rise 5%
Dublin City Council waste charges are to be increased by 5 per cent in 2006, councillors were told yesterday, writes Fiona Gartland.
At a meeting of the council's strategic policy committee on the environ-
ment, assistant city manager Matt Twomey told councillors the standing charge for the 240-litre grey wheelie bin would go up from €80 a year to €84, and the cost per lift would increase from €5 to €5.25. The charge for the smaller bin will increase from €65 to €68.25, with the lift going up from €3 to €3.15. And the cost of bag labels, used where householders cannot accommodate a wheelie bin, will increase from €2.50 to €2.65.
The household waste charge review presented to councillors showed the increase would not cover the gap between the cost of dealing with waste and income from handling it.
The council forecasts income from waste charges of €22.5 million at the end of 2005, with the service costing €63.1 million to run, giving a shortfall of €32.6 million.