A Dublin teenager who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has brought a High Court case aimed at securing a secondary school place after his parents had unsuccessfully applied to at least 26 schools to enrol him.
Arann McGinley (14) has been at home for almost a year without receiving adequate tuition and is suffering from not being able to interact with other teenagers in a school setting, it is claimed.
"My husband and I are so desperate to secure appropriate education for our son," his mother Cora said in an affidavit, "that we are prepared to move from our home to the vicinity of any school willing to accept our son but, to our dismay, we now find that he is totally locked out of all mainstream schools."
Arann had been receiving just seven hours home tuition a week but that was increased to 20 hours to make up for delays in giving him the approved 10 home tuition hours, Ms McGinley said. The 20 hours would be reduced to 10 once the backlog was made up.
However, while Arann had made definite academic progress as a result of the home tuition and had never been in trouble with the gardaí, he had a sense of frustration about his schooling, especially the loss of the social element and the company of his peers, she added.
Judicial review proceedings have been brought by Arann, through his mother, of Tolka Cottages, Glasnevin, Dublin, against the Minister for Education, the National Council for Special Education Needs and the State.
The alleged failure to provide Arann with adequate and appropriate education breaches his rights both under the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, it is claimed.
Among the orders sought is one directing that Arann be provided with appropriate inclusive education and education to meet his special educational needs. Mr Justice Michael Peart granted leave for the case to be brought.
In an affidavit, Ms McGinley said Arann was born in Romania and adopted by her and her husband when he was four weeks old. He had been enrolled in a secondary school in September 2004 but was expelled on "health and safety grounds" in March 2005.
That same month, he was diagnosed with ADHD and opposition defiant disorder. Ms McGinley said she and her husband had unsuccessfully appealed the expulsion.
However, the school's appeals committee said it felt another school with more resources and expertise "may have handled the situation differently".
Ms McGinley said a special needs adviser with the National Council for Special Education Needs had noted last April that no application had been made by the school for special educational needs and had also said the resource allocation within the school was inadequate for Arann.
If the school had been properly resourced to meet Arann's needs, she believed he would most likely still be a student there.
Experts had advised that Arann would be best placed within a remedial stream-type setting and would benefit from the services of a special needs assistant. She was advised he could now safely return to mainstream schooling.