The settlement of the Darren Woods legal action will have major implications for parents who wish to care for their disabled children at home.Embrace, which promotes the rights of people with disabilities, said the settlement was a landmark for parents of children with disabilities.
"This is a good day, a really good day for parents everywhere, and it gives us hope for the future," said Ms Marie O'Donoghue, assistant secretary of Embrace.
The voluntary group had been funding 20 hours home support a week for Ms Woods because the support given by the Southern Health Board was inadequate.
"This will definitely have far-reaching implications," said Ms O'Donoghue. Thousands of families around the country were struggling to care for their disabled children with little or no support from the State, and the case paved the way for these parents to seek help.
She said that, without support, parents eventually got burnt out and then the State had to intervene. But if the State provided the necessary support for these families while these children were small, it would avoid such crises in the first place.
The settlement was also welcomed by Ms Kathryn Sinnott, who won a court action to secure education for her son, Mr Jamie Sinnott, who has autism.
Ms Sinnott said she was "absolutely thrilled" for Ms Woods, "but she shouldn't have had to come to court in the first place".
She said it would probably be cheaper for the State to put the necessary supports in place for parents who wished to care for their children at home than to fund expensive institutional care where it was not wanted.
She said the State would have to change its attitude to carers and would have to see them as providing a vital service rather than welfare recipients.
Ms Liz McManus, the Labour health spokeswoman, said it was unfortunate that the State forced Ms Woods to take the case as a court action was "a very expensive and terribly distressing" experience. However, parents like Ms Woods were left with no other option.
She said the case reinforced the urgent need to get the new Disability Bill in place. It also raised questions over funding of health boards as they were not withholding these services for no reason.
The Southern Health Board issued a one-line statement: "The Southern Health Board can confirm that agreement has been reached on an individual care programme to meet the needs of Darren Woods."
A spokeswoman for the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, said the Minister was pleased agreement had been reached between the health board and the individual involved. However, she said there was no further comment on the case.
The result was welcomed by Namhi, which promotes the rights of people with disabilities. Ms Deirdre Carroll, Namhi chief executive, said this would strengthen the possibility for other families getting support.
She said the case highlighted the need to look at individual or direct payments for people with a disability so that they and their families could choose the most appropriate support.
