Primary needs addressed at last

Jamie Sinnott, the 23-yearold autistic man from Cork, who with his mother Kathryn won a landmark High Court judgement last autumn, has embarked on his primary education programme. A classroom has been set up in the Sinnott household and two teachers have been employed. Jamie, who had not spoken for years said "yes" very firmly on the third day of the programme, according to his mother. The judgment, which was delivered last October, has forced the State to provide free primary education for Jamie. The Sinnotts were also awarded damages amounting to just under £300,000 and costs estimated at over £1 million. Although a stay was granted on both the award and the costs, pending an appeal to the Supreme Court by the Department of Education and Science, which will be heard on March 23rd, the Sinnotts have received £42,000 to provide for the first year of Jamie's education and therapy and £15,000 to cover educational expenses already incurred. If the Supreme Court upholds the High Court judgment, the State will continue to support Jamie's education. Meanwhile, the Department has undertaken to pay the Sinnott's legal costs.

"We don't want the Sinnott family at hazard in terms of legal costs," a spokesperson for the Department said. "We want clarification on important points of law."

A point to be considered by the Supreme Court is whether adults have a constitutional right to primary education. The Department is concerned that if the Sinnott judgment is upheld, any adult who feels they have missed out on primary education can do likewise.

Nonetheless, the fact remains that the State has continually failed to make adequate provision for special-needs pupils. Kathryn Sinnott regrets she didn't take her action years ago. "I should have taken this case immediately, when he was seven months old and not have wasted Jamie's life," she says.