Mother of autistic man to seek education funding

The mother of a 19-year-old man who suffers from autism has been granted leave by the High Court to seek an order directing the…

The mother of a 19-year-old man who suffers from autism has been granted leave by the High Court to seek an order directing the State to fund his education for the next academic year.

The application is the first since the Supreme Court's judgment in the Sinnott case in which it held that the State's constitutional duty to provide special educational services for such people ended when they reached 18.

The action has been taken by Mrs Jacqueline Berg of Sandyford in Dublin on behalf of her son, Philip.

Mr Michael Forde SC, counsel for the Berg family, told Mr Justice Peter Kelly the family was already involved in separate High Court proceedings in which Philip is seeking damages over the allegedly inadequate provision of educational services for 15 years before his 18th birthday.

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Mr Forde told the court there might be a difficulty in the merits of the case because Philip was now over 18 years of age.

The reason for a delay in bringing the legal application against the State was because the High Court said earlier this year it would await the outcome of the Sinnott case.

Mrs Berg said that to properly meet her son’s educational needs he required placement in a specialised training facility that had not been made available by the State.

He was educated at Setanta Special School, Stillorgan, Co Dublin, where he had been a pupil up to the end of the last academic year.

Mrs Berg said her solicitors had requested the Minister for Education and Science, Mr Michael Woods; the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Micheal Martin; and the Eastern Health Board to provide appropriate funding for Philip at Setanta.