The State has allocated further funding towards research into Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the High Court was told yesterday.
Mr Justice Kearns was informed of the additional £30,000 funding for a national study on the prevalence of the disorders by a barrister, Mr John Hanlon, who was appearing in a case involving an 11-year-old boy who suffers from severe ADD.
The mother of the boy said she was unhappy with progress towards meeting his special needs, especially from the Mid-Western Health Board.
She said he had received no psychological services since December 1998. Mr Hanlon, for the child, said there was a special class for children with ADD at Roxboro in Limerick, set up after a High Court order, and the Department of Education was working towards establishing another such class in the Limerick area for the school year starting in September.
The child's mother said she would be happy with such a class.
Ms Isobel Kennedy, for the MWHB, said the child had been seeing a child psychiatrist for a time and the board was willing to refer him to a psychologist within the board's area. A psychologist with expertise in ADD, Dr Deirdre Killilea, who had set up an ADD unit at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, whose services had been sought by the boy's mother, was not available for the child psychology section, counsel said.
Mr Justice Kearns indicated the board should consider if it could meet the request to see if Dr Killilea could treat the child as part of a team. If she could not, the board should find another suitably qualified expert. He adjourned the case to April 13th.
