€1m allocated to Emma Mhic Mhathúna’s children to purchase a house

Mr Justice Kevin Cross ordered that €1m is to be lodged in the High Court to buy a house for the Mhathúna children.

More than €1 million is to be given over to Emma Mhic Mhathúna's children to purchase a home. Emma, who was one of the women at the centre of the cervical cancer scandal, tragically passed away earlier this month having fought a brave and public cancer battle. After receiving incorrect information regarding the results of her smear tests in 2010 and 2013, Emma took her case to court and settled for €7.5 million. During the court proceedings, Emma spoke on RTE Radio One's Today With Miriam O'Callaghan and said:

"The €7.5 million doesn’t make any difference to me. "I just went in there and I wasn’t taking any nonsense because I wanted my children taken care of – every mouthguard and football boot adds up."

RTÉ reported earlier this week that the judge was informed the family would wait to purchase a house in order to allow them time to grieve and it was ordered that €1m be kept in court, "pending the future purchase of a home". The late woman's children currently reside in Kerry, where they are being looked after by their grandparents, both of whom have given up work to care for the five kids. Before the case, Emma said she wanted the Irish government to accept "responsibility and accountability" for the misdiagnoses. The case revealed that Quest Diagnostics misread the previous smears and the HSE admitted it had failed to disclose the findings of the audit to her. Our thoughts are with Emma's family as they grieve the loss of their mother and daughter.