A young autistic boy who lost special needs facilities when he was transferred from one school to another is seeking a High Court declaration the child is entitled to similar equipment in his new school.
Mr Justice Michael Peart yesterday granted leave to the nine-year-old boy, suing through his father, to bring judicial review proceedings alleging his human and constitutional rights have been breached by the Department of Education’s failure to provide funding for the facilities.
The child had a room in his old school fully equipped with special needs facilities which were installed at a cost of about €41,000.
It is claimed that the decision of the department not to provide proper funding for such facilities in his new school is unreasonable, irrational and lacks proportionality.
Peter Finlay SC, for the boy, said he and all the other boys in his school had to transfer last September to another school in a west of Ireland town.
The new school was not equipped with the facilities available in his old school and an application was made to the department to fund such special needs facilities, Mr Finlay said.
The department initially agreed to provide €6,500 towards the cost and later increased that to €17,693 but that sum fell well short of the actual cost.
While there was an acknowledgement in law that the child was entitled to this equipment, the longer he was without it was damaging to his learning potential as every day he took a step backwards, Mr Finlay added.
The equipment he required was nearby in his old school but the boy had had to transfer from that school along with other boys.
The school had entered into talks with the department over the matter and had tried not to have to take court proceedings, Mr Finlay said.