McManus Welcomes Ruling for Arklow Austic Boy

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McManus Welcomes Ruling for Arklow Austic Boy

Wednesday, May 16 2007

Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and spokesperson on Health, Liz McManus has welcomed the High Court ruling today that awarded compensation to the O’Cuanachain family of Arklow.

“Today Mr Justice Peart said delays which occurred in diagnosis, provisions of therapy, and interventions do constitute a breach of duty of care of the Health Service Executive (HSE). Mr Justice Peart also ruled that the State delayed in providing Sean O’Cuanachain with education between 2002 and 2004.

“This judgement is significant not only for the O’Cuanachain family but for the 150 other families around the county who are affected by this case. It is significant also that ABA education was seen as an appropriate education for Sean and recognised the good progress Sean made with ABA education.

“The O’Cuanachain family were forced to take legal action against the State for failing to provide their son Sean with 30 hours a week of Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA), a type of education for autistic children.
"Having met representatives of ABA schools from Barnacoyle, Co. Wicklow, I am happy to state that the Labour Party is committed to recognising and funding these schools. These commitments are part of our manifesto, ‘The Fair Society’.

"We estimate that the cost of this would amount to no more than €5 million per year. This is an extremely small price to pay for giving autistic children the best possible start by providing education directly catered towards their needs."

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