High Court case judgment a devastating blow to autistic boy’s parents

THE parents of Sean Ó Cuanacháin have been dealt the devastating news that they now face massive legal bills (Irish Examiner, January 30).

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.