Courts ‘only way to get rights for our special-needs children’

THE Government has spent well in excess of €10 million fighting parents seeking education for their children with special needs in the courts in recent years.

Last night, disability rights groups reacted angrily to a suggestion by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell that by taking these cases parents were wasting money.

As the Special Olympics placed the focus on disability rights, campaigners argued that parents had been forced to take legal action as a last resort to get their disabled children’s constitutional rights. The Government needs to provide services and laws giving disabled people enforceable rights, they said.

Over the past five years, €7.4 million has been paid out by the Department of Education to parents of children with intellectual disabilities who took cases against the State. In addition, another €1.3 million has been paid by the Chief State Solicitor’s Office to barristers, stenographers and expert witnesses in contesting cases.

But this figure does not include the significant costs of the staff in the CSSO working on the cases or the cost of handling cases that don’t reach the courts. At present, dozens more cases are waiting to be heard as children are denied adequate services.

Arguing against the provision of rights-based legislation, Mr McDowell said such a provision in the forthcoming Disability Bill would result in further litigation adding that €4 million was paid to meet legal costs last year.

Although the minister welcomed a proposal for a Disability Ombudsman, as proposed by disability rights activist Fergus Finlay, he said such a system would bypass the courts.

Last night, rights campaigner Kathy Sinnott said the minister’s comments were astonishing. And was the Government that was wasting money in the courts. After spending six years pursuing her successful legal case for her son, Jamie, and 17 years fighting the system, she said she wished there had been a solution proposed at any point. “No one goes to court until they have explored every other avenue. These are people who are deeply in love with their children and not willing to see them left on the scrap heap,” she said.

Disability Legislation Consultation Group member Donal Toolan said the minister had to come up with a means of delivering on the political process, and said that the State took Ms Sinnott to the Supreme Court. “The only people wasting money is the State, by forcing people to the court, instead of spending time and energy restoring people’s access to education,” he said.

Irish Autism Alliance spokesman Seamus Green said parents go to court as it is the only way to get the Government to provide entitlements. Under the Government’s Disability Bill, it is expected people will not have the right to appropriate services to meet their needs. According to Government sources, the Department of Justice will seek a compromise in which people will have a right to have their needs assessed but there will be no guarantee the services will be delivered.