Court rules parents of autistic boy not entitled to costs

The High Court has ruled that the parents of a young autistic boy are not entitled to orders for an estimated €5 million in court costs.

The couple had undertaken an unsuccessful lengthy court action aimed at securing State funding for a particular form of education for their son.

The court has ruled the "fair and just" thing to do in relation to the costs of the action by seven-year-old Seán Ó Cuanacháin was to make no order for costs, meaning each side must pay their own costs.

Lawyers for the State and the Health Service Executive had previously said they were not seeking costs of the action against Cian and Yvonne Ó Cuanachain, of Woodbine Avenue, Mountain View, Arklow, Co Wicklow, who brought the case on behalf of their son.

The bill facing the State and HSE arising from the action is estimated at more than €2 million.

The judge said that although the case was clearly of importance to Seán and his parents, and he was not downgrading that importance, it was not of such great public importance as to justify the court exercising its discretion on costs to make an order in favour of the Ó Cuanacháins.

He noted that Ms Ó Cuanacháin had said during the hearing that the case was being brought on behalf of Seán and was not part of a wider campaign in the public interest. The judge said he had previously raised some doubt as to whether that was the case.

The 68-day action was regarded as a test case for autistic children seeking education according to the system of Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA).

His parents sought orders compelling the State to provide funding for education according to ABA but failed to secure these.

Seán was awarded €61,000 damages against the HSE over unreasonable delay in diagnosing his condition and providing appropriate therapies for him.

MEP and disability campaigner Kathy Sinnott said the judgment was "completely unfair".

"Last May the Judge acknowledged that Sean Ó Cuanacháin had been damaged during the years of early intervention he lost out on while in HSE services but despite this he still expects the family to pay millions of euros in costs. This should never have happened. If the State had given Seán the education he needed, Seán's parents need never have gone to court."

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