The Ministers for Education and Health are to discuss how to improve services for adults with autism in the wake of the Jamie Sinnott case.
Dr Woods and Mr Martin will seek to agree measures on the health, education and other needs of such adults after Dr Woods said on Thursday that he had "practically a blank cheque" to improve services for special needs children. Government sources said yesterday that it had the same attitude regarding services for adults.
"We went to the Supreme Court on a point of law," said one Government source. "But we have a political commitment to improving the situation."
The Supreme Court last Thursday found that the State's constitutional obligation to provide for free primary education applied to children only, not adults, and ceased at the age of 18.
Speaking in the wake of the court decision, Dr Woods said: "I've got from the Government practically a blank cheque to go on and provide for the children in the schools." Government sources said yesterday the Cabinet would be open to any proposal from Dr Woods for extra spending to improve services for adults with special needs. The spokeswoman for the Department of Education said Dr Woods would "as a matter of priority engage in discussions with the Minister for Health with a view to developing the appropriate models of response for adults with autism across the full spectrum of needs in health and education".
The Department yesterday listed a number of decisions taken since 1998 to develop the level of education provision for special needs pupils. In October 1998 the Government decided that all children with special needs within the primary education system, including children with autism, should have an automatic entitlement to a response to their needs, irrespective of their level of need or location.
The number of special resource teachers has increased from 104 to more than 950, and the number of assistants to help children with special needs has grown from under 300 to more than 2,000 in the same period, according to the Department. In October 2000 the Government doubled the level of special-needs support available to each special class, i.e. classes that operate with a pupil-teacher ratio of 6:1. A task force on autism is now reviewing education services for children with autism with a view to recommending improvements. A national council for special education is to be established, independent of the Department.