A legal action in which the parents of a seriously disturbed autistic boy are seeking appropriate education and services for their son has been adjourned by the High Court for a week to allow the parents to consider new proposals for the boy.
Counsel for the parents of Lewis O'Carolan (14), who say his interests would be best served in an English institution, said his client had received the proposals half an hour before the legal action was to begin and that they would like to see them in writing.
Counsel for the Minister for Education, who contends the boy's needs would be best met by a placement at a Dublin special school, said his side rejected any suggestion that the Department could or would be "blackmailed" by legal proceedings into providing educational facilities. The Department made such provision irrespective of legal proceedings.
The President of the High Court, Mr Justice Finnegan, asked the parents to consider the proposals and adjourned the case to next week.
The action was brought by Ms Annette O'Carolan, Norfolk Road, Phibsborough, Dublin, on behalf of Lewis. She is seeking a declaration that facilities provided for the boy by the Department and Northern Area Health Board are inadequate.
At the outset of the case, Mr John O'Donnell SC, for the Minister, said Lewis had been taken out of St Paul's special school in Beaumont, Dublin, by his parents two years ago, having attended for six years. The parents considered the education provided was unsatisfactory although the school provided music therapy, speech and occupational therapy, psychological services and had an appropriate pupil-teacher ratio, he said.
Ms O'Carolan brought proceedings in December 2003 and sought an order that Lewis be placed in a school in Wales. This was later changed to a school in Birmingham and subsequently she wanted him placed in a school in Lancashire.
When the Department discovered Lewis had been removed from St Paul's, it offered a tutor but the parents had not taken up the offer. At present he was home without tuition.
Mr O'Donnell outlined various options, including the continued provision by the Department of a placement at St Paul's, which it believed was the most appropriate option. Failing that, the Department would provide tuition funding and assist the parents in finding a tutor, with the health board providing, insofar as it could, appropriate therapeutic support for Lewis.
The difficulty was that if Lewis were sent to England, he could remain there only until he was 18. Lewis was going to need support far beyond his 18th birthday.
Dr Michael Forde SC, for the O'Carolans, said the Department and health board offers had been communicated in general terms half an hour before the court hearing yesterday and he would require specifics in writing.