TAXPAYERS’ money should be spent providing education for children with disabilities instead of the €11 million paid in legal fees of families going to court to seek services, the Labour Party said yesterday.

WHILE his parents await an appeal in the Supreme Court, Seán Ó Cuanacháin is continuing to thrive at his specialist autism school in Co Wicklow.

THE Department of Education went €17.5 million over budget when it employed 350 extra special needs assistants to help pupils with disabilities last year.

The State is not to seek costs from the parents of a six-year-old autistic boy who took a case seeking for the State to pay for specialist tuition for him.

The parents of a six-year-old autistic boy were today awarded more than €60,000 in compensation by the High Court.

The High Court will give its full judgment today in the case of an autistic boy who earlier this year lost his action aimed at securing State funding for a specific form of education.

THE State’s defence of a High Court case taken by the parents of an autistic boy has been described as immoral by a teachers’ union leader.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern yesterday defended the State’s decision to contest a case taken by the parents of a young child with autism.

THE Department of Education has revealed that it is involved in 250 cases before the courts.

THE High Court ruling against a family seeking a better education for their autistic child represents a major blow for hundreds of other parents in a similar predicament.