Mick Clifford: HSE made shameful attempt to subvert a law designed to protect the most vulnerable 

The HSE has failed abysmally to comply with the Disability Act of 2005, but there is precious little evidence that successive governments have applied sufficient pressure to ensure compliance.

Last Friday the High Court handed down a ruling that should be a source of national shame. Judge Siobhan Phelan determined that the HSE’s idea of assessing whether children have particular needs was contrary to the law.

Effectively, the State agency was attempting to deflect from its failure to fully observe the rights of children with additional needs.