A failure by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to staff a facility in a Dublin school is denying a boy his constitutional right to an education, his mother has said.
Gail Murphy said she could see the potential in her six-year-old son Luca, who has autism and behavioural and speech difficulties, fading away day by day.
"They are failing the child, and every extra week and month that passes without Luca going to school is a loss to his education, which is supposed to be his constitutional right," she said.
Luca was enrolled in the local Educate Together national school in Castleknock, which has an autism outreach unit capable of catering for 12 children.
However, the unit, which has been completed for more than a year, is yet to open because funding has not been received from the HSE to appoint the specialist staff the unit requires.
Lucy Keaveney, deputy principal of the Educate Together school in Castleknock, said the Department of Education had provided them with a beautiful facility that could not open until proper services were received.
"The unit requires speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and psychological staff, none of which are forthcoming because Beechpark Services [the service provider that is funded by the HSE] is strapped for funds," she said.
A spokeswoman for the HSE yesterday said: "Decisions on the allocation of funds have not yet been agreed for this year.
"Health Service Executive local management are in regular contact with the school authorities to ensure they are fully informed."
The Department of Education said there were 277 special classes for children with autism, located in 169 schools across the State.
It added that there were also 686 schools that had children with autism participating in mainstream classes.
Ms Murphy said her son could not go straight into a normal class because he needed special attention.
