021 4824426 (Glanmire) | 025 54000 (Fermoy)|info@odowd.ie

modowd

About Micheál O'Dowd

This author has not yet filled in any details.
So far Micheál O'Dowd has created 42 blog entries.

Two for the price of one? PIABs lack of analysis for complex injuries

Having reviewed a number of awards from PIAB since the introduction of the new “Personal Injuries Guidelines” (or the PIGs as one might call them) there seems to be a clear trend from the Board in misapplying the Guidelines and undervaluing injuries. Congratulatory comments from  PIAB as to their stunning ability to reduce awards makes one worder if this paucity of analysis is intentional or purely due to a lack of experience.

One large issue arises from the requirement of the Board (and a Court for that matter) to have special care when considering the effect of multiple injuries on the […]

By |2022-07-27T23:35:29+01:00July 27th, 2022|

Make your will the easy way

Normally making your will involves two trips to a solicitor. One to give instructions, and a second to execute the will. We have tried to reduce this to one visit.

Using our online tool (featured in the Irish Examiner) you can give instructions online using a interactive questionnaire. You will be prompted with ideas and suggestions as you go, which will help you make an informed and sensible decision. You can then pay online, of if you like arrange for an invoice to issue later. This should not be confused with some online will writing services. An experienced solicitor will […]

By |2022-06-13T00:07:55+01:00June 13th, 2022|

Limited Liability Partnership – Please note

PLEASE NOTE that with effect from 7th March 2022 (“the relevant date”):

(a) O’Dowd Solicitors has been authorised to operate, and is now operating, as a Limited Liability Partnership (“LLP”);

(b) as set out in Section 123, of the Legal Services Regulation Act, 2015 (subject to the exceptions listed therein), a partner in O’Dowd Solicitors has no personal liability for any debts, liabilities or obligations which are incurred for the purpose of carrying on the business of the LLP (whether these are liabilities of the LLP, of himself or herself, of another partner or partners in the LLP or of any employee, […]

By |2022-03-06T12:06:26+00:00March 6th, 2022|

Is PIAB really “better” for Claimants?

Our view is that without proper representaion a claimaint is walking into a lion’s den when engaging with PIAB. The system for resolving personal injuries claims in Ireland is currently broken. We would probably not have said this 24 months ago. We would have said that if your injuries were minor, if you did not have any huge loss of income, and if you were fully better after six or twelve months the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) was likely to make a reasonably hand of your claim. This is not currently the case, and we would advise any […]

By |2021-11-21T22:39:35+00:00November 21st, 2021|

HSE Data Breach – September Update (is the truth starting to come out?)

On the 15th May 2021 the Data Protection Officer (DPO) for the HSE made a data breach notification to the Data Protection Commission. In that notification he said that a day earlier the HSE suffered a data security breach of its IT systems.

After some difficulty we have obtained the official data breach notification pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. In the notification to the Data Protection Commission the stark facts were set out bluntly; approximately 4.9 million people had been affected by the breach, and the data disclosed to certain nefarious actors included

  1. Data Subject Identity data (name, surname, […]
By |2021-09-30T10:00:16+01:00September 29th, 2021|

2021 Conveyancing Guide now available

We realised our old Conveyancing Guide was now hopelessly out of date, so there was nothing for it only to update it for 2021. We try to be as honest as possible, don’t do any hard sell, try and get you to jump through hoops, or make your life more difficult than it needs to be in any way, that goes for both downloading the guide and retaining us as your Solicitors.

As always please do not hesitate to contact us if you need a quote to buy, sell or re-mortgage using our online form. 

By |2021-09-06T22:16:12+01:00September 6th, 2021|

Google Reviews, the rule of Law, and Big Tech having a laugh

We note that today the office of the Irish Data Protection Commission levied a fine of €225m on Whatsapp, a messaging arm of Facebook. This was done in the context of outrage from a number of other European Data Protection Commissioners. They felt quite rightfully that the original proposed fine of €30m was far too low given the revenues of Facebook. It was not a sufficient incentive to obey the law.

Overall, it looks very bad for Ireland that the Irish DPC had to be dragged kicking a screaming to levy a sensible fine for egregious breaches of European law. None […]

By |2021-09-02T15:07:47+01:00September 2nd, 2021|

Covid 19, Data Protection and the Workplace. An explosive mix?

It appears that many solicitors have expressed their views on the legal issues that will arise from people returning to the workplace post Covid. The only common ground shared is that “there are legal issues!” The following should not be taken as legal advice, and has no basis more reliable than our own meandering experience (to misquote Baz Luhrmann).

Can an employees pay be cut if they do not return to the workplace?

Almost certainly yes. The following is an extract from a tech company’s contract:

Your place of work will be [Office address]. You may be required to undertake normal business […]

By |2021-08-18T18:01:23+01:00August 17th, 2021|

HSE Cyber Attack – July Update

It remains something of a surprise to us that there has been so little media coverage of late of the HSE Cyber Attack. Almost two months has now passed since the hacking incident and it appears that health services are still greatly affected and the Health Service Executive remains remarkably reticent to say what happened. They are even slower to say what is being done to remediate matters. We have spoken to a great many people about their experiences since the Cyber attack, and the following seems to be current position:

Health Services

From a health care point of view it seems […]

By |2021-07-08T23:07:32+01:00July 8th, 2021|

Limited Liability Partnership

O’Dowd Solicitors LLP is authorised by the Legal Services Regulatory Authority in Ireland to operate as a limited liability partnership under the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015.

Read more

Glanmire Office

Crestfield Centre, Glanmire, Cork

Phone: 021 4824426
Email: info@odowd.ie

Fermoy Office

68 Patrick St., Fermoy, Co. Cork

Phone: 025 54000
Email: info@odowd.ie

Go to Top