The Department of Education is facing further legal challenges on the issue of providing education to special-needs children, despite the outcome of the Jamie Sinnott case.
Several parents are planning to clarify the meaning and scope of the Supreme Court judgment which said the State was not obliged to provide education to special-needs pupils once they are over 18.
At a media briefing by the National Association for the Mentally Handicapped of Ireland yesterday, parents outlined cases which they have instigated.
One of them involves an autistic man over 18 whose mother is fighting the case on his behalf. Once he reached the age of 18, he no longer received funding for speech and language therapy from the Department of Education. His mother is now paying for these services at a special school for autism. The case is expected to go to a full hearing in the High Court shortly.
The woman, who did not wish to be named, said her son had been "brutalised" by the system. She said he and others had a right to an education, regardless of their age.
She would be seeking to clarify the Supreme Court judgment and to see what were the Department of Education's responsibilities.
The general secretary of the National Association for the Mentally Handicapped of Ireland, Ms Deirdre Carroll, said parents were still being forced to go to the courts for their children's education rights.
She has written to the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, asking him for details on several initiatives he had promised to take to help special-needs pupils and their parents.
"While there has been lots of nice-sounding ideas, there are still major problems on the ground for parents of special-needs children," she said.
Her organisation had received no details yet on the new special-needs forum or on the new Disabilities (Education and Training) Bill. One was the position of people over the age of 18.
Support at primary and second level, lack of special-needs assistants, teacher shortages and pre-school problems were some of the other issues.
Ms Frieda Finlay, public relations officer of the association, said the "ideal" for parents was to have their special-needs children in mainstream education. She said there was no reason why they could not reach third level, and Trinity College Dublin had offered facilities, but there was no Government funding.
The association said one of the biggest problems was getting children assessed. While recent initiatives were welcome, Ms Carroll said, the decision to limit schools to two private psychological assessments per 100 pupils was causing difficulties.
"Of course, the worst two pupils get an assessment but what about the others who could also have genuine difficulties?" she asked. The association added that with a recession approaching, provision for special-needs children could worsen.
"There is no doubt that if there are cutbacks, special-needs children and their parents will be hit first," said Ms Finlay.