€5m ‘wasted on special needs scare tactics’

THE State is squandering €5 million a year of taxpayers’ money deliberately dragging families with special needs children through the courts in order to break their will to battle for key education resources, TDs yesterday warned.

Anger over the emotional harm the legal actions do to families already under strain has prompted the Dáil Finance Committee to call in the State Solicitor’s Office to explain the situation.

TDs fear the Education Department is using the courts as a delaying tactic, with no expectation of the law favouring its side.

The Government spent over €5.6m in 2004 and €4.5m the previous year defending court actions which sought resources for students with special needs.

Independent Kildare TD and committee member Catherine Murphy said the legal actions were a ploy to try scare off families from fighting for their rights.

“This does seem a deliberate move on the Government’s part. These cases get postponed and postponed again and then dropped. It is like they want to stop other families coming forward,” she said.

“Families tell me they feel they are just scratching around in the dark, not knowing what is going to happen to their children.

“It just seems such a waste of money, especially when you think the annual outreach services budget allocated to the Eastern Regional Autism Service is €4.8m this year.”

Fianna Fáil TD and committee chairman Sean Fleming demanded to know why so many of the expensive cases are launched and then dropped before reaching court.

“The question is: has the State been dragging parents and their special needs children through an expensive and time-consuming legal process as a delaying tactic, when there was no real intention by the State to defend these cases in court, in the first place?” he asked.

“We want to specifically know how there are often huge legal costs involved where parents of children with special needs are seeking resources, and often cases are settled before reaching the floor of a courtroom. Often the costs incurred by the State in taking cases that far are often huge, and hit the taxpayer’s pocket.

“These resources should have been (spent) on frontline services and not on legal fees,” Mr Fleming said.

He hit out at the “shroud of secrecy” surrounding the proceedings.

“It is wholly unacceptable that we are in a situation where the parameters used, and a breakdown of costs are not available to the Oireachtas and to members of the general public.

“What we are seeking to find out is why so much money is being spent on legal fees, and in many cases they do not even go to court,” he said.

An Education Department spokeswoman said it was the right of parents to take action if they wished.

“The department makes a huge provision for children with special needs which stands at €640m this year alone. there are 14,000 people in schools working with children with special needs,” she said.