Parents of autistic boy seek €50,000 a month

THE PARENTS of a brain damaged autistic child have told the High Court that ongoing care for their son at a specialised private facility will be lost unless the State provides immediate funding of €50,000 a month. They are “utterly desperate”, the parents told the court.

The 11-year-old boy is being cared for in a rented house in south Dublin operated by a registered private charity, the Solis Trust, which cares for children with serious learning and behavioural difficulties.

The boy’s parents yesterday applied to Ms Justice Mary Laffoy for an injunction requiring the HSE, the Minister for Health and the Minister for Education and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to provide continued funding for the Solis facility pending the outcome of full proceedings over the child’s longterm care.

The HSE sought an adjournment to consider two new affidavits provided on behalf of the boy.

Ms Justice Laffoy adjourned the case to next Tuesday to allow the HSE respond to the affidavits and suggested the parties discuss arrangements for the boy’s care pending the full hearing of the injunction matter or of the main action.

The boy, who has a brain injury and cerebral palsy, has also been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Asperger’s syndrome.

Feichin McDonagh SC, for the Ministers and the NCSE, said the child had attended a mainstream national school until May 2007 when he was taken out of the school.

His parents later secured services for him in a private facility in the US, the May Institute in Boston, which provides specialised services for those with autism and brain injury. After a year and a half there, they decided to return to Ireland and asked the institute to assess whether the standard of service he had in the US would be available here.

Mr McDonagh said such services were not available through the State and the family had approached Solis which rented out a house in south Dublin where the child has lived since December last, with a number of carers provided by the charity. The cost of that service was €50,000 per month.

From the State’s viewpoint, the case involved an important policy matter as it concerned the funding of a private facility which is not run by the Departments of Education or Health or by the HSE.

David Holland SC, for the parents, said the matter was urgent because the family cannot afford to pay the cost of the continuing care. Without such care, the boy’s behaviour would regress and the problems would become even more intractable.

Carmel Stewart SC, for the HSE, said the parents had decided to place the boy in the Solis facility without discussing it fully with the HSE. It was incorrect to say he would not receive funding for his care but this would have to be done following an assessment which could take some time.

If the parents found they were out of pocket as a result of having to provide such care, there was a remedy available to them if their main action against the State and the HSE was successful, counsel said.