State will not seek costs from autism education case

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.

They lost their High Court action, but were today awarded €61,000 in damages for a breach of the HSE's duty of care in delaying diagnosis and intervention for Sean O Cuanachain.

The Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, said this morning that the State would not be seeking the €5m in costs from the couple.

She also defended the State's provisions for the education of children with autism.