Last March, at a meeting of the Fianna Fail Parliamentary Party, I objected to the Government's decision to challenge the £40,000 award to the mother of Jamie Sinnott. My objections, and those of others, were leaked to the press. No criticism of the media but rather an undermining of what is intended to be a confidential meeting to discuss matters of political moment.
The predominant feeling in the party was, and I believe is, that any person who is in the same unfortunate situation as Jamie Sinnott deserves the full protection of the State at every stage of his life, as of right. Why, then, was this decision appealed? Because there was a need to clarify the balance, which is expressed in the Constitution, between the right of an individual to free primary education and the welfare of all the Irish people. Law is about certainty, or at least it should be, and where there are areas of doubt about the ambit of any issue of law, in particular one which is of profound public importance, such as in this case, no responsible government could avoid putting it to the test. And the Supreme Court is the proper place to do this.
The Supreme Court appeal was, as Michael Woods has pointed out, purely about specific points of law on which the Government needed clarity. While the Government fully accepts that the State is obliged to provide for the education and care of all our citizens with a disability, that is not the issue. The Minister for Education promised, long before the outcome of the appeal to the Supreme Court, that the State would pay all of the damages awarded. I understand that much of this has already been paid. The issue here is one of policy and, in our system, policy is for politicians, not for judges.
Some, however, have chosen this decision to appeal as a weapon, a tool with which to attack the Government. So be it - governments are there to be attacked. One columnist went so far as to claim that the Government had a policy of exclusion and neglect towards people with autism and other intellectual disabilities. Not only is this unfair, it is also untrue and ignores the significant work being done now for those who have a disability.
The provision, standards and degree of services for those with a disability in Ireland have been appalling. It was only the individual commitment of nurses, parents, carers and religious orders which saved many of our disabled citizens from neglect. The situation today is much improved and any fair observer cannot but come to this conclusion.
Since 1998 spending on children with special needs has increased tenfold. The number of resource teachers for children with special needs in primary education is up from 104 to 950 in the past two years alone. The number of special needs assistants in our primary schools is up from 299 to about 2,000 over the same period.
Following the High Court judgment in the Sinnott case an action plan was introduced to ensure that children with autism would have their educational needs met. Since then 80 special classes for autistic children have been established, each with a dedicated teacher and at least two assistants.
Of course we are still playing catch-up in this area and the admitted failings and neglect of the past won't be rectified overnight, but to lay all the blame on the government of the day for the wrongs of decades does little to help.
It is my belief that the Government has shown a commitment to moving disability equality to centre stage. All of us want a "big bang" in the area of disability to see an end once and for all to the neglect and injustice in this area.
That is why the past four years has seen such a raft of equality legislation directed towards people with disabilities - the Employment Equality Act, the Equal Status Act and the National Disability Authority Act. That is why the provision of services for people with a disability is being "mainstreamed", thus ending what Minister Mary Wallace has called the benign apartheid that existed with the services for those with a disability being provided separately from the rest of society. That is why £70 million is being provided under the National Development Plan in the next two years in capital expenditure in the intellectual disability area.
The High Court decision in the case of Jamie Sinnott was challenged not for money and not to limit the extent of his educational services. It was taken, by necessity, to clear up certain issues of constitutional law. Jamie Sinnott and the other 10 per cent of our citizens with a disability, deserve the chance to realise their full potential. They deserve this as a matter of right, as already stated, and not at the whim of any administration. Now it will be interesting to see the size of the Minister's blank cheque.
dandrews@irish-times.ie
Garret FitzGerald is on leave