High Court case judgment a devastating blow to autistic boy’s parents
The High Court ruled that each party in the 68-day judgment — the Department of Education, the HSE and the Ó Cuanacháin family — must each pay their own costs. The overall costs for the Ó Cuanacháin judgment amount to approximately e5 million.
As an MEP and chair of the Hope Project, I find this to be completely unfair. Last May the judge acknowledged that Sean Ó Cuanacháin had been damaged during the years of early intervention while in HSE services, but despite this he still expects the family to pay millions of euro in costs. This should never have happened. If the State had given Seán the education he needed, his parents need never have gone to court.
It is yet to be decided whether the Ó Cuanacháins will get damages for the education that Seán missed during the years he spent on waiting lists.
This whole affair is unbelievable. First, the State damages Seán. Then, after dragging the Ó Cuanacháins through the courts for an unprecedented 68 days, they deny him the applied behavioural analysis (ABA) education that was clearly benefiting him. Now they are happy to impoverish Seán’s family and force them to pay their own costs while the State has the taxpayers to pay its share.
As a taxpayer I would be very happy to have my taxes used to give appropriate education to every child in the country rather than to fight court cases to stop them getting it.
This was a vindictive outcome and I am ashamed of it.
Kathy Sinnott MEP
‘St Joseph’
Ballinabearna
Ballinhassig
Co Cork
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