A study by the Injuries Board has revealed that children between the ages of three and seven years account for more than a quarter of personal injury compensation settlements to minors.
The report showed that over 8 million Euros was awarded to children under the age of 18, with 25.3 per cent being awarded to the 3 to 7 age group, 21.5 per cent to the 7 to 10 age group and only 7.5 per cent to children under the age of 3 years.
Personal injury claims relating to motor vehicles accounted for 79 per cent of the awards made, while public liability claims accounted for the remaining 21 per cent, and the most dangerous place for a child to live was County Dublin – with 23 per cent of all awards nationally – while no awards at all were made to children resident in County Leitrim.
Coinciding with the release of the data, which showed personal injury compensation awards ranging from €500 to more than €170,000, Patricia Byron – the Chief Executive of the Injuries Board Ireland – announced that they were to sponsor the upcoming Temple Street Hospital fund raising campaign to research more into the causes of childhood injuries.
Professor Alf Nicholson of Temple Street Hospital welcomed the news, adding the alarming statistic that, in Europe, more children over the age of one die of injuries than all other diseases combined. He continued; “For every child that dies from an injury, 160 are admitted to hospital and over 2,000 are seen in the emergency department – deaths are just the tip of the iceberg”.