The High Court has sent a disability services appeal back to an Appeals Officer for a fresh investigation and decision after finding errors in the earlier appeal determination. It did not decide whether the child should receive services before the date in the service statement.
The case concerned a minor, identified as T.M., whose mother, J.N., appealed under section 20 of the Disability Act 2005. The judgment, delivered by Ms Justice Bolger on 4 July 2022, concerned a Disability Appeals Officer’s decision of 25 November 2021 to dismiss the mother’s appeal against a Complaints Officer’s report.
An assessment report issued in January 2020 said the child required occupational therapy, psychology, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy “ASAP”. A service statement issued in August 2020 set March 2023 as the date for interdisciplinary support. The mother complained that the start date was too late and that the HSE was failing to provide a service specified in the statement. The Complaints Officer did not uphold her complaint, and the Appeals Officer affirmed that decision.
The High Court found that the complaint process could address the date in a service statement. It held that the Complaints Officer and Appeals Officer had jurisdiction to consider a complaint about that date and could change the statement’s contents, subject to the statutory factors they must consider. The Appeals Officer had erred in law by finding that neither officer could provide for services earlier than the stated date.
The court also found that the Appeals Officer had not shown how he considered the factors required by section 11(7), including the practicalities of providing services and whether earlier provision would exceed the amount allocated under the HSE’s approved service plan for the relevant financial year. The information obtained from the HSE did not address that spending question. The judgment said the Appeals Officer could have sought further information, including by using statutory investigative powers.
The court did not decide whether the HSE’s stated waiting time was justified or what start date should apply. It remitted the appeal for a fresh investigation and determination, leaving those issues to the Appeals Officer. The judge directed that the matter be listed for final orders at 10am on 20 July; the supplied judgment does not state what final orders were subsequently made.