Family 'vindicated' by decision

The mother of an autistic boy awarded €61,000 damages by the High Court yesterday said her family felt "vindicated", but described the reasoning behind Mr Justice Michael Peart's ruling as "bewildering".

Yvonne Ó Cuanacháin, mother of Seán (six), called on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to intervene to ensure provision of the Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) education that she and her husband say their son needs.

Only Mr Ahern, she said yesterday, could stop the "unending nightmare" to which the family had been subjected "by the Department of Education and the HSE". Ms Ó Cuanacháin said: "We welcome the judgment. We feel we've been vindicated because the judge did say my [ then] two-year-old son had been damaged by the people who were there to care for him."

Mr Justice Peart said Seán had been damaged by delays in the treatment offered by the Health Service Executive (HSE). However, he continued, Seán had progressed well, so he was limiting damages to €60,686.

"It is bewildering to us," said Ms Ó Cuanacháin. "The critical thing the judge said was the HSE damaged Seán, but he was limiting damages because he [ Seán] had done well. But he did well because he was getting some ABA - which is what we argued for in the first place - because of the blood, sweat and tears, the emotional effort, the people we employed privately.

"So in effect we are being penalised for doing the right thing while the State is being let off the hook, because we did the work."

She welcomed the fact that the judge "clearly said ABA is an appropriate intervention for Seán". However, the judge said such provision was at the discretion of the Minister for Education. He also said the type of education being offered by the State was appropriate.

Seán is receiving some ABA education at Barnacoyle national school, Co Wicklow, which is part-funded by the Department of Education. While the department funds full ABA for some autistic children, it does not for others.

The family is considering appealing the case to the Supreme Court. "There would be no need to appeal if they would just fund the ABA for Seán in the morning. We just want to end the nightmare. We are asking the Taoiseach to intervene at this stage."

Minister of State for Children Brian Lenihan has called on the HSE not to pursue the family for costs. The Department of Education indicated it would not pursue costs against them. The costs will be decided in court next week. The family is facing a bill of up to €10 million.