The Government has spent at least €9 million contesting court claims regarding services for disabled people over the last five years.
Figures supplied by the Department of Education and the Chief State Solicitors' Office show the amount spent on legal fees on these cases has risen dramatically over the last three years.
However, disability groups and teachers' unions say the majority of the legal cases could be avoided if the State put enough resources into the area of special-needs education.
The figures supplied by the State underestimate the full cost of contesting the claims, as they do include cases settled by the Department before going to court or the full cost incurred by the Chief State Solicitors' Office.
Mr James McNabb, who successfully won a case obliging the State to provide an appropriate education for his four-year-old son in March 2001, said the decision to contest the cases meant money which could be used for education was being wasted on legal fees.
"In our case we estimate that it cost the State €1.8 million in legal fees. That would have been enough to run a school for six children who are on the autistic spectrum for six years," Mr McNabb said.
