Another week without school for special needs child Angel Mc
Donagh.

Special needs child, 11 year old Angel Mc Donagh faces into
another week without schooling because of the failure of the Department of
Education to provide the necessary resources to St Michael’s House, the special
needs school, which her father was told could cater for her needs.

Despite recent comments by Minister for Education, Batt O’
Keefe and some media reports, which suggested Angel’s situation had been
resolved, St Michael’s House remain unable to cater for her needs because of
the refusal of the Department of Education to provide the needed resources.

While the Department of Education has just carried out an
audit of the services and resources available at St Michael’s House, they are –
to date – still maintaining that St Michael’s House is adequately resourced to
cater for Angel’s needs.

The Department of Education’s view on the matter runs
directly counter to the views expressed by the school to Mr Mc Donagh, who told
Angel’s father that recent staff cut backs and a tightening on funding meant
they did not have the necessary resources to cater for her.

The HSE which had similarly implied they would make
resources available to assist Angel with her special therapy needs are also
refusing requests by her father, James Mc Donagh, to hold a special case
conference to discuss a comprehensive care package for his daughter.

Mr Mc Donagh made clear in a meeting with HSE
representatives last week that he believed the situation was reaching crisis
point and appealed for such a special case conference but the HSE refused his
request and rejected the contention that there was any crisis.

In the meantime, the lack of schooling and therapy for Angel
are leading to a steady decline in her general health and well-being and making
the situation for her family near intolerable.

James Mc Donagh is now at his wits end in his efforts to get
Angel into school and access the necessary resources to care for her.

James Mc Donagh said:

“It looked for a while, as a result of my protests and the
media coverage they received that progress was being made but, in reality,
Angel is still not in school and is still not receiving the therapy she needs.
The bottom line here is that the Department of Education are still refusing St
Michael’s House the resources they need to cater for Angel and the HSE is still
not taking this situation seriously. Meanwhile, Angel is suffering and my
family are finding it increasingly difficult to cope. I am really desperate and
do not know where to turn. I appeal to the Batt O’ Keefe and the HSE to stop
passing the buck and fobbing us off and honour their obligations to a
vulnerable child.”

Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett of the People Before Profit
Alliance, who has been assisting the Mc Donagh’s in highlighting Angel’s plight
said:

“This situation is a pure disgrace. James Mc Donagh has done
everything he possible could to get his daughter into school and get her health
needs catered for but the Department of Education and the HSE seem not to care
a whit about the rights of this desperately vulnerable child. One has to wonder
if there is not a very cynical calculation going on here – namely that a
disabled child from a poor background has little political clout and so no-one
will really care what happens to her. Whatever the explanation, this appalling
situation shows the terrible lie behind government claims that the vulnerable
will be protected from the cut backs they are now imposing. How can these
politicians and HSE executives, who pay themselves vast salaries, sleep at
night when a special needs child is being neglected in this way? ”