Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 109: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of court actions regarding the provision of resources such as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and psychological services relating to school students with special needs which her Department has been involved in, in each year over the past five years; the number of these actions which progressed to the hearing stage; the number of cases that resulted in the provision by her Department, of the resources sought by the plaintiff; the costs which were incurred by her Department in responding to this court action; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13420/08]

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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In the last five years, 56 cases have been entered against my Department in which applicants / plaintiffs are seeking access to education and health support services. In cases involving children with disabilities this also includes, on occasion, access to appropriate health related supports. These cases were broken down as follows:

2003: 19 cases ( 9 Judicial Review, 10 Plenary)

2004: 13 cases ( 6 Judicial Review, 7 Plenary)

2005: 11 cases ( 6 Judicial Review, 5 Plenary)

2006: 10 cases ( 9 Judicial Review, 1 Plenary)

2007: 3 cases (1 Judicial Review, 2 Plenary)

2008: No cases to date.

In that time, four cases have proceeded to full hearing, the first in 2003, the second during 2005 and the third during 2006. The court ruled in favour of the State on all occasions. The fourth case has yet to be finalised and determined. A number of other cases which commenced prior to 2003 are also being dealt with by my Department. The cost to my Department, excluding the costs of the State defence which is borne by the Office of the Chief State Solicitor, in each of the years since 2003 was as follows:

Costs to date in 2008 amount to approximately €175,000. It should be noted that these figures do not include the cost of officials in my Department responding to these cases.

These cases are, in the main, taken against the Department of Education and Science and allege a failure on behalf of the State to provide for an appropriate education as provided for in the Constitution. While these cases are mainly taken by parents of children with autism, there are also a number of cases relating to ADHD and intellectual, physical and sensory disabilities. The Deputy should note that the Department of Health and Children is not specifically named as a defendant in all of these cases but is involved due to its role in the formulation and development of policy in respect of the provision of health care and support services. The Health Act 2004 provided for the creation of the Health Service Executive, which was established on 1 January 2005. Pursuant to the Health Act, 2004, the HSE has the responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. This includes responsibility for all health related supports. As such, my Department does not have a function in relation to the provision of services to individuals. In a number of the cases the Health Service Executive is also named as a co-defendant.