Paediatric Negligence Claims in Ireland: Your Child's Rights When Hospital Care Goes Wrong

How is paediatric negligence assessed under Irish law?

Irish courts assess all medical negligence, including paediatric cases, under the Dunne principles from Dunne v National Maternity Hospital [1989] IR 91. The test asks whether the care was such that no medical practitioner of equal specialist status and skill would have provided it while exercising ordinary care. The Supreme Court reaffirmed this standard in Morrissey v HSE [2020] IESC 6 [3], confirming it remains the governing test in Ireland.

This differs from the UK's Bolam test. Under the Dunne principles, an Irish court can reject a body of medical opinion if it considers that opinion unreasonable. That gives Irish judges wider scope to find negligence than their English counterparts. For parents, the practical effect is clear: the question isn't whether a textbook was followed, but whether a competent paediatrician exercising ordinary care would have acted differently given the specific circumstances of your child's case.

A detail that catches many parents off guard: clinical guidelines serve as evidence of accepted practice, but they don't set the legal standard by themselves. A doctor who followed a guideline can still be found negligent if that guideline was outdated or inapplicable to the child's condition. Equally, departing from a guideline isn't automatically negligent if the departure was justified.

Proving the link between the negligence and your child's injury

Meeting the Dunne standard is only the first hurdle. The second, and often harder, element is causation: proving that your child's injury was caused by the negligence rather than by the underlying condition. Irish courts apply the "but for" test: but for the negligent act or omission, would the injury have occurred? In paediatric cases this is more difficult than in adult claims for two reasons. First, children's conditions evolve rapidly, so the defence will argue the outcome would have been the same regardless. Second, where a child had a pre-existing developmental condition, separating the negligent contribution from the natural progression requires detailed expert evidence.

Where the "but for" test cannot isolate a single cause, the court may apply the material contribution test: was the negligent cause more than negligible in contributing to the outcome? In delayed diagnosis cases, a related question arises: loss of chance. If a child's cancer was diagnosed six months late, did the delay reduce the probability of a better outcome? The Supreme Court addressed this in Philp v Ryan [2004] IESC 105, holding that loss of chance in the medical negligence context must be proved on the balance of probabilities, not as a proportional discount. Your solicitor and medical expert must address causation directly in the expert report, not just the standard of care.

Where does paediatric negligence happen in Ireland?

Children face higher risks of medical error than adults because they cannot describe symptoms accurately, require weight-based drug dosing (where decimal-point errors cause tenfold overdoses), and their conditions can deteriorate with alarming speed. The HSE's Paediatric Early Warning System (PEWS) [4], National Clinical Guideline No. 12, exists specifically because children's physiological signs can shift faster than standard adult monitoring detects.

This page covers paediatric negligence after birth. For injuries during labour and delivery, see our birth injury claims guide.

Which medical expert does your child's case need?

Every paediatric negligence claim in Ireland requires an independent expert report before proceedings can issue. The expert must practise in the same speciality as the doctor whose care is in question. Getting the wrong type of expert is one of the more common reasons for early delays. Ireland's pool of independent paediatric specialists willing to provide medico-legal reports is small, and experts are frequently sourced from UK teaching hospitals.

Between locating the right expert and receiving their report, expect 4 to 8 months. Your solicitor should identify the correct speciality before instructing the expert, not after the report comes back questioning the wrong standard of care.

The CHI hip dysplasia audit: what the numbers show (2025 to 2026)

The Simon Thomas audit, published in May 2025, examined hip dysplasia (DDH) surgeries performed on children between 2021 and 2023 across three Irish hospitals. The findings were stark: 79% of pelvic osteotomies at Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital and 60% at Temple Street did not meet accepted international surgical criteria. By contrast, 98% of surgeries at Crumlin were appropriate. A total of 147 cases were reviewed. Source: Children's Health Ireland joint statement (May 2025) [5].

In February 2026, the HSE widened the look-back period to 2016 to 2023 and extended the scope beyond hip dysplasia to include spinal, limb reconstruction, and hip surgeries carried out by one consultant. Of 91 patients identified in this expanded review, 62 have been called back for clinical assessment. An international expert panel, led by Dr Kishore Mulpuri from British Columbia Children's Hospital, is reviewing all DDH patients from Temple Street (2010 onwards) and Cappagh.

One aspect that most coverage misses: the legal question isn't only whether the surgery was negligently performed. Where a surgery was not clinically indicated at all, the claim can run on two tracks: negligence (the surgeon fell below the Dunne standard in recommending the procedure) and battery (the procedure itself lacked proper clinical justification, so consent was not truly informed). This dual-track approach is particularly relevant to the CHI hip dysplasia cases because the audit found the surgeries were technically performed correctly but should never have been recommended.

Temple Street spinal surgery: the HIQA findings on unauthorised springs

In April 2025, HIQA published a review [6] into the use of non-CE-marked metal springs implanted in three children during spinal surgery at Temple Street between 2020 and 2022. The springs were made from non-alloyed spring steel (carbon steel that corrodes in water), not medical-grade stainless steel. HIQA concluded the use of these springs was "wrong" and found that "children were not protected from the risk of harm."

The report identified a catalogue of failures: information shared with parents before surgery was "wholly inadequate," consent was "not fully informed" under the HSE's National Consent Policy, documentation was inadequate, and there were "unclear lines of reporting, accountability and oversight" across CHI. The CHI board chairman resigned in the immediate aftermath. HIQA made 19 recommendations, including a complete review of corporate and clinical governance at CHI.

For parents of children affected by these procedures, the legal implications go beyond standard negligence. The HIQA findings support claims on two fronts: lack of informed consent (parents were not told the devices were experimental) and potential breach of the European Medical Devices Regulation, alongside systemic governance failure at hospital level. The next step for affected families is to obtain the complete surgical records and any HIQA correspondence relating to their child.

Sepsis, meningitis, and the PEWS protocol: how delays become negligence

Delayed diagnosis of sepsis and meningitis in children is one of the most common forms of paediatric negligence in Ireland. The HSE's Paediatric Early Warning System (PEWS) [4], National Clinical Guideline No. 12, provides a standardised scoring system for monitoring deterioration in hospitalised children. The PEWS score dictates when a nurse must escalate to a doctor.

A rising PEWS score that goes unescalated is strong evidence of a breach of duty. If your child was in hospital and their condition worsened without a timely medical review, the PEWS documentation in their medical records can reveal whether protocol was followed. A score above 4 typically triggers an immediate senior review. Parents can request these records and, with expert help, identify whether the correct escalation steps were taken.

In A&E, the challenge is different. Children are often sent home from emergency departments with a diagnosis of "viral illness" when the true diagnosis is early sepsis or meningitis.

Medication and dosing errors in children

Children are not small adults in prescribing terms. Every medication dose must be calculated by weight (mg/kg), and decimal-point errors can produce tenfold overdoses. The HSE reported over 22,800 medication incidents across its services in a 30-month period. Source: Medical Independent [7]. Research from Northern Ireland's regional quality improvement initiative identified paediatric medication safety as an area where "critical incident" reporting revealed recurring patterns of weight-calculation failures, particularly with intravenous paracetamol and antibiotics. Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal [8].

The liability question in medication errors can be complex. If a doctor prescribes the wrong dose, the hospital is typically liable under the Clinical Indemnity Scheme. If a pharmacist dispenses the correct prescription incorrectly, liability may fall on the pharmacy. Where the error occurs in A&E under time pressure, the standard remains whether a competent doctor exercising ordinary care would have made the same mistake.

CAMHS and mental health failures in children

Most paediatric negligence guides focus on physical injuries. There is a significant gap in coverage of psychiatric and mental health negligence affecting children through the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). The Maskey Report [21] into South Kerry CAMHS, published in January 2022, found that 240 children received care that did not meet the required standard and 46 children suffered significant harm, including inappropriate prescribing of antipsychotic medication, unreliable diagnoses, and missing case files. A non-adversarial compensation scheme was established and, as of February 2026, 231 of the affected families have received compensation through that scheme. In April 2024, the High Court approved the largest individual settlement at €200,000 for a teenager who developed bulimia after being inappropriately prescribed antipsychotic medication.

The Halpin Report [22] into North Kerry CAMHS reviewed approximately 300 files. The findings are more alarming than South Kerry: around 50% of reviewed cases received an apology from the HSE, compared with 15% in the Maskey Review. The Minister for Mental Health received the final report on 11 February 2026, and publication is expected within weeks. Families affected by North Kerry CAMHS should be aware that the South Kerry compensation scheme may serve as a precedent for a similar arrangement.

Parents of children with conditions such as ADHD or autism who were prescribed inappropriate medication, whose files were lost to follow-up, or who experienced a failure to monitor and review treatment, may have grounds for a medical negligence claim. These claims are assessed under the same Dunne principles as physical injury cases. The standard of care expected of a psychiatrist treating a child is measured against the standard of a competent child psychiatrist, not a general practitioner.

The difference between these cases and most paediatric negligence claims: the harm is often less visible but equally real. A child over-medicated for years, or one whose deteriorating mental health went unmonitored, faces long-term consequences that may only become fully apparent later in life.

Who are you actually suing in a paediatric negligence claim?

In Ireland, most paediatric hospital negligence claims name the HSE as defendant under the Clinical Indemnity Scheme (CIS) [2], not the individual doctor who treated your child. The State Claims Agency (SCA), a division of the National Treasury Management Authority, manages the claim on behalf of the HSE and handles both negotiation and litigation.

This differs from England and Wales, where claims go through NHS Resolution under a different structure. In Ireland, the CIS covers all public hospital staff, meaning the HSE is named as defendant even when the negligent act was committed by an individual consultant, registrar, or nurse. For private hospital treatment, the claim may be against the hospital company or the practitioner's own insurer, depending on the employment arrangement.

One of the first challenges parents face is understanding this defendant structure. The doctor who treated your child isn't the party you sue. The hospital itself is rarely sued in its own name. Instead, the claim goes to the HSE, and the SCA manages the process. Getting the defendant wrong can cause delays.

Children's Health Ireland (CHI) hospitals

Children's Health Ireland operates CHI at Temple Street (Dublin 1), CHI at Crumlin (Dublin 12), CHI at Tallaght, and CHI at Connolly. The new National Children's Hospital on the St James's campus is due to consolidate these services. For claims purposes, CHI hospitals fall under HSE-funded governance, and the CIS/HSE defendant structure applies. For a broader overview of claims against the Health Service Executive, see our claims against HSE guide.

What are the time limits for children's claims in Ireland?

A child's medical negligence claim in Ireland can be brought until the child's 20th birthday, two years after turning 18. The Statute of Limitations 1957 [9] pauses the clock for minors. The date-of-knowledge rule can extend this if the link between injury and negligence only became apparent later.

There is a critical exception: if the negligence caused a permanent mental incapacity (such as severe hypoxic brain injury leading to cerebral palsy), the limitation clock never starts running. These claims can be brought decades after the event. This is a distinction that matters enormously for high-value catastrophic injury cases.

Unlike in England and Wales where the limitation period for personal injury is three years under the Limitation Act 1980, Ireland's two-year clock (from age 18) is shorter. Parents who have read UK guidance should be aware of this difference. For the full legal process of claiming on behalf of a child, including the next friend role and court approval requirements, see our dedicated guide.

How is a child's compensation handled in Ireland?

Compensation awarded to a child in Ireland belongs to the child, not the parents. Every settlement must be approved by a court (known as an "infant ruling"), even for relatively small sums. The money is then lodged with the Accountant of the Courts of Justice [10] and held until the child turns 18. The court can release interim funds for urgent care, treatment, or assistive technology.

General damages for paediatric injuries are assessed under the Judicial Council Personal Injuries Guidelines (2021) [11], formerly known as the Book of Quantum. The Guidelines don't have separate paediatric categories, but children's cases frequently involve severe or catastrophic injuries that fall into the highest brackets. Future care costs in paediatric cases are uniquely high because of the child's life expectancy.

All euro figures reflect ranges under the Judicial Council Personal Injuries Guidelines (2021). Awards vary case by case and these figures do not predict any specific outcome.

Periodic Payment Orders for catastrophic injuries

For the most severe paediatric injuries, the Civil Liability (Amendment) Act 2017, Part IVB [12] allows courts to make Periodic Payment Orders (PPOs) instead of lump-sum awards. A PPO provides regular, indexed payments to cover ongoing care costs for the child's lifetime. The first PPO was approved by the Irish High Court in February 2019. PPOs are particularly relevant for children with conditions requiring lifelong support, though there's ongoing debate about whether the HICP index used for PPO adjustments adequately reflects actual care cost inflation.

What is actually being calculated in a child's compensation claim?

A child's claim involves heads of damage that differ from adult claims because the child has no earnings history and their future needs must be projected across a full lifetime. The main components are: general damages (pain and suffering assessed against the Judicial Council Guidelines), loss of earning capacity (not loss of earnings, since the child has never worked, this is calculated by actuarial projection using CSO earning statistics, parental occupation, and educational attainment as benchmarks), a life care plan (a detailed costed projection of every care need including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, psychology, nursing, respite, assistive technology, and adapted transport), an accommodation report (where the family home needs adaptation or replacement for wheelchair access, sensory rooms, wet rooms, or hoisting equipment), an educational psychologist assessment (documenting impact on learning, need for resource hours, and SNA allocation), future medical costs, and past and future care provided by parents who reduced working hours or left employment, valued at a notional hourly rate. Each head requires a separate expert report.

What happens to the compensation if your child lacks capacity at 18?

For children with catastrophic injuries such as severe brain injury or profound disability, the question of who manages their compensation after they turn 18 is critical. The old ward of court system was abolished in April 2023. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 [19] replaced it with a graduated support framework administered by the Decision Support Service (DSS). Under the new system, a parent or family member can be appointed as a decision-making assistant (for minor decisions), a co-decision-maker (for joint decisions), or a decision-making representative (for full substitute decision-making, ordered by the Circuit Court). Minor wards of court are discharged from wardship on reaching 18, at which point the new framework applies. The compensation held by the Accountant of Courts of Justice is then released or transferred in accordance with whatever decision-support arrangement the Circuit Court puts in place. Your solicitor should address this transition as part of the settlement structure, not after the case is over.

How long does a paediatric negligence claim take?

No two cases follow the same path, but parents should have realistic expectations. A straightforward case with clear liability and moderate injury typically takes 2 to 3 years from first consultation to settlement. Disputed liability cases with significant injury take 3 to 5 years. Catastrophic injury cases involving brain injury or severe disability routinely take 5 to 7 years or longer, and this is sometimes deliberate.

Paediatric claims take longer than adult claims for a specific reason: the full extent of a child's injury often isn't known until their development stabilises. A brain injury sustained in infancy may not reveal its full impact on cognition, speech, and motor function until the child reaches school age. Settling too early risks undervaluing the claim by decades of care costs. Your solicitor may strategically wait for the prognosis to crystallise before finalising the case.

In catastrophic cases, the SCA can agree to make interim payments for immediate care needs while the claim is ongoing. This is critical because families often need adapted housing, specialist equipment, and therapy years before the case resolves. Interim payments do not affect the final settlement amount.

Steps in a paediatric negligence claim in Ireland

The process for a child's medical negligence claim in Ireland has specific requirements that adult claims don't. From April 2025, clinical negligence cases in the High Court are managed through a dedicated Clinical Negligence List (Practice Direction HC 132) [13], designed to reduce delays and encourage early mediation.

1. Seek independent medical attention for your child if ongoing care is needed.

2. Consult a solicitor experienced in paediatric negligence. Medical experts for Irish paediatric cases are frequently sourced from the UK, because Ireland's pool of independent paediatric specialists willing to provide medico-legal opinions is small. The expert's speciality must match the alleged negligence: a paediatric neurologist for brain injury, a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon for DDH cases, a paediatric radiologist for missed fractures.

3. Parent or guardian appointed as "next friend." The next friend brings the claim on the child's behalf. They must have no interest adverse to the child's. For full details on this role, see our claims for children guide.

4. Solicitor obtains complete medical records from the hospital, GP, and any other treating facility. For CHI hospital records, the request goes to CHI's central records office. For deterioration cases, use the Four-Source Records Request (PEWS charts, nursing escalation notes, time-stamped medical entries, and medication records) to ensure nothing is missed. At this point, the quality of the records you obtain directly affects the strength of the expert's opinion.

5. Independent expert reviews the records and produces a written report assessing whether care fell below the Dunne standard. See our guide on independent medical expert reports.

6. Letter of claim sent to the HSE via the Clinical Indemnity Scheme. The SCA then manages the defence.

7. Mediation or court proceedings. In 2024, 43% of clinical claims where the SCA paid damages involved mediation, up from 32% in 2022 ². The new Clinical Negligence List encourages early commitment to mediation.

8. Court approval required for any settlement involving a child. This "infant ruling" (under Order 22 Rule 10 of the Rules of the Superior Courts) is a dedicated hearing where a High Court judge reviews the medical reports, the proposed settlement terms, and counsel's written opinion on whether the amount is fair and in the child's interest. Counsel for the minor, who is separate from the family's solicitor, presents the case to the judge. The judge can reject an insufficient settlement, and this does happen. The hearing is typically 30 minutes to an hour, held in chambers. Parents attend but the child usually does not.

9. Compensation lodged with the Accountant of the Courts of Justice (courts.ie) until the child turns 18.

Requesting medical records from CHI hospitals

One detail that slows claims down more than most parents expect: obtaining medical records from Children's Health Ireland. All requests for records from Temple Street, Crumlin, and Tallaght paediatric services go through CHI's central Health Information Management department, not the individual hospital. The request is made under the Data Protection Act 2018 (not Freedom of Information, which doesn't apply to clinical records in the same way). CHI must respond within 30 days, though in practice the turnaround is closer to 8 to 12 weeks for complex files. There is no fee for access requests under GDPR. If records are incomplete or redacted, your solicitor can escalate through the Data Protection Commission.

For the Four-Source Records Request, specify each category individually in your written request: PEWS observation charts, nursing escalation notes, time-stamped medical entries, and medication administration records. Bundling them into a single generic "all records" request often results in nursing notes or PEWS charts being omitted from the response.

Does a hospital apology mean they have admitted fault?

No. Under the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 [14], which became mandatory from 26 September 2024, hospitals must disclose serious patient safety incidents to patients and families. The Act explicitly provides that any information disclosed and any apology "shall not constitute an express or implied admission of fault or liability" and is not admissible as evidence in legal proceedings.

Open disclosure is about transparency, not legal admission. If a hospital has told you something went wrong with your child's care, that doesn't mean your claim is proven. Equally, it doesn't prevent you from pursuing a claim. The open disclosure and the legal process run on separate tracks entirely.

The timing matters more than most guides suggest: if you receive an open disclosure notification, gather and preserve the documentation immediately. Request copies of everything the hospital provides during the disclosure meeting. That information can inform your solicitor's assessment, even though it can't be used as evidence of admission in court.

What happens if a child dies from suspected negligence?

When a child dies and the cause of death is unclear or potentially linked to medical care, the coroner will hold an inquest under the Coroners Act 1962 (as amended). The inquest is a fact-finding hearing, not a trial. It determines the cause and circumstances of death but does not assign blame or civil liability. However, the evidence heard at an inquest, including testimony from treating doctors and pathologists, can be directly relevant to a subsequent negligence claim.

Parents should be aware of three things. First, you are entitled to legal representation at the inquest, and a solicitor experienced in medical negligence can ensure the right questions are put to witnesses. Second, the coroner's verdict and deposition evidence are admissible in later civil proceedings, which means the inquest can effectively front-load part of the liability investigation. Third, the HSE and the hospital's legal team will be represented at the inquest, so attending without legal advice puts you at a disadvantage.

A civil claim for wrongful death can proceed alongside or after the inquest. The limitation period for a fatal injury claim in Ireland is two years from the date of death under the Civil Liability Act 1961. Where the death involves a child who was a patient, the claim is typically brought by the parents as dependants under Part IV of the Act.

What most guides get wrong about paediatric negligence in Ireland

"I've already complained to the HSE, so the legal side is covered." Filing a complaint through the HSE's "Your Service Your Say" process is not the same as pursuing a legal claim. The HSE complaint process is an internal review with no legal standing and no power to award compensation. Crucially, any written statements you make during the complaint process may be discoverable in later legal proceedings, meaning they could be used by the defence. If you believe your child suffered negligence, speak with a solicitor before engaging with the HSE's internal complaints procedure.

"Medical negligence doesn't go through the Injuries Resolution Board." This was broadly true until December 2023. Following legislative changes, the Injuries Resolution Board (IRB), formerly known as the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB), now has jurisdiction that can extend to medical negligence claims. In practice, the IRB may decline complex paediatric negligence cases, requiring direct court litigation. The blanket exemption that many guides still state is no longer fully accurate.

"Making a claim will affect my child's ongoing treatment." It won't. Investigating a potential claim or issuing proceedings does not affect your child's duty of care from their treating clinicians. Hospitals have continuing clinical obligations regardless of legal proceedings. The claim is against the HSE, managed by the SCA. Your child's treating doctors at CHI or any other hospital won't typically be involved in the legal process day-to-day.

"Paediatric negligence means birth injuries." Birth injuries are a specific, separate category involving obstetric and midwifery care during labour and delivery. The majority of paediatric negligence claims involve post-birth care: delayed sepsis diagnosis in A&E, GP failure to refer, unnecessary surgery, medication errors, and CAMHS failures. We cover birth injury claims on a dedicated page.

"The compensation goes to the parents." The compensation belongs to the child. Any settlement must be approved by a court, and the funds are lodged with the Accountant of the Courts of Justice until the child turns 18. Parents do not receive the funds directly. The court may release interim amounts for care needs.

Common questions about paediatric negligence claims in Ireland

What to consider next

References

1. Supreme Court of Ireland. Dunne v National Maternity Hospital [1989] IR 91. Available at: bailii.org.
2. National Treasury Management Authority. NTMA Annual Report 2024: State Claims Agency. Published 14 July 2025. Available at: stateclaims.ie.
3. Supreme Court of Ireland. Morrissey v HSE [2020] IESC 6. Available at: bailii.org.
4. Department of Health. Paediatric Early Warning System (PEWS): National Clinical Guideline No. 12. Available at: gov.ie.
5. Children's Health Ireland. Joint Statement on DDH Audit. Published May 2025. Available at: childrenshealthireland.ie.
6. Health Information and Quality Authority. Review of the Governance of Implantable Medical Devices at CHI at Temple Street. Published 8 April 2025. Available at: hiqa.ie.
7. Medical Independent. Over 22,800 Medication Incidents Reported by HSE in 30 Months. Available at: medicalindependent.ie.
8. The Pharmaceutical Journal. Using Critical Incident Data to Promote Paediatric Medication Safety: A Regional Quality Improvement Initiative in Northern Ireland. Available at: pharmaceutical-journal.com.
9. Oireachtas. Statute of Limitations 1957 (Act No. 6 of 1957). Available at: irishstatutebook.ie.
10. Courts Service. Accountant of the Courts of Justice. Available at: courts.ie.
11. Judicial Council. Personal Injuries Guidelines. Published 2021. Available at: judicialcouncil.ie.
12. Oireachtas. Civil Liability (Amendment) Act 2017, Part IVB (Act No. 30 of 2017). Available at: irishstatutebook.ie.
13. Courts Service. Practice Direction HC 132: Clinical Negligence List. Effective 28 April 2025. Available at: courts.ie.
14. Oireachtas. Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 (Act No. 6 of 2023). Commenced 26 September 2024. Available at: irishstatutebook.ie.
15. Legal Services Regulatory Authority. Available at: lsra.ie.
16. Oireachtas. Coroners Act 1962 (Act No. 9 of 1962). Available at: irishstatutebook.ie.
17. Oireachtas. Civil Liability Act 1961, Part IV (Fatal Injuries) (Act No. 41 of 1961). Available at: irishstatutebook.ie.
18. Oireachtas. Data Protection Act 2018 (Act No. 7 of 2018). Available at: irishstatutebook.ie.
19. Oireachtas. Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (Act No. 64 of 2015). Commenced 26 April 2023. Available at: irishstatutebook.ie.
20. Supreme Court of Ireland. Philp v Ryan [2004] IESC 105. Available at: bailii.org.
21. Health Service Executive. Maskey Report: Look-back Review into South Kerry CAMHS. Published January 2022. Available at: hse.ie.
22. Health Service Executive. Halpin Report: Look-back Review into North Kerry CAMHS. Report received by Minister February 2026. Available at: hse.ie.