The parents of a 14-year-old autistic boy with severe behavioural problems say they are still waiting for satisfactory State proposals regarding his future care after fighting for services for almost two years.
Lewis O'Carolan has been living at home with his parents during this time without any form of education or respite services. His parents are taking a High Court action in which they are seeking appropriate education and support services for their son.
Speaking at the family's home yesterday in Phibsboro, Dublin, the boy's mother, Annette O'Carolan, said time was running out for her son. "I feel they're wasting Lewis's time and he's sinking into a black hole. It's his time they're wasting. It's heartbreaking to watch him deteriorate.
"Things in the house are getting worse. There is no running water to the toilet since he broke it. Yesterday he short-circulated the electricity in the house. We've no cups and plates left. Last month he jumped out of the upstairs window when my husband left the house because he couldn't bring him for a drive. He stuck the tip of a mobile phone into his eye for the same reason.
"It's all frustration, not being able to communicate his needs. And he's becoming less and less capable of doing the things he used to do as time goes on."
In 2003 the O'Carolans withdrew their son from St Paul's, a special needs school in Beaumont, claiming his condition had steadily deteriorated over his six years there.
They say he did not receive the kind of specialised one-to-one education that could have helped unlock the most restricting aspects of his condition. They also claim he was administered anti-psychotic drugs to control his behaviour.
His local health authority, formerly the northern area health board - now known as the Health Services Executive - Northern Area - has declined to comment on the case but insists the school provides a range of autism-specific services.
Since High Court proceedings got under way last year the authority has made a number of proposals for Lewis's care.
These include a function room with a tutor in a gym in Cabra, services at a facility yet to be built at St Michael's House in Dublin, and respite care at a residential unit near Blake's Cross, staffed by psychiatric nurses.
While the authority says these proposals are suitable, the O'Carolans insist they will not help Lewis's condition.
"We didn't spend two years fighting for education for Lewis to have him contained in a respite centre," Ms O'Carolan said. "We want a place where there are therapists and professionals under one roof."
The O'Carolans say they have found nowhere in the State suitable for Lewis. A school in Kisimul, Lincolnshire, that specialises in education for children with challenging behaviour, assessed the 14-year-old and agreed to take him last year. However, after waiting several months as the legal case continued, it withdrew the place two days before Christmas.
The family have now identified a similar special school in Bangor, Wales, which has agreed to assess Lewis. The State, however, argues that the boy can be cared for in Ireland.
In the High Court yesterday, Mr Justice McMenamin gave the health authority until the end of this week to finalise its latest set of care proposals for Lewis.
The case has been adjourned for two weeks for the O'Carolans to consider the latest proposals and set out what services are needed for their son.
Colm O'Carolan, Lewis's father, meanwhile, says the family are just seeking what their son needs. "Experts from England, Scotland and Wales have been over to the house and say they are shocked at the state of Lewis and the lack of intervention. We just want what's normal by international standards, nothing else. This is about allowing him to improve and fulfil his potential."