Mr Justice Murphy disagreed with the definition of primary education made by Mr Justice Barr in Mr Sinnott's case and also disagreed with Mr Justice O'Hanlon's 1996 High Court judgment in the case of Paul O'Donoghue. Both had equated the word primary as meaning basic or fundamental.
The primary education identified in the Constitution was education provided for children, the age limits of which were determined historically by the Education (Ireland) Act 1892 which required parents to send their children between the ages of 6-14 years to receive certain schooling.
The State had ample powers under Article 42.4 to supplement available educational facilities. Perhaps more should have been done, and, hopefully, more would be done to meet the needs of Mr Sinnott and others with disabilities or disadvantages. Regretfully, he did not accept there was such an obligation in the Constitution under the term "primary education". Such obligation as the State has to provide education for any person ceases when that person reaches the age of 12 years, he said.