The unit, which is capable of catering for 12 children, has been completed for more than a year and has been provided with additional teaching staff, but to date the health therapists vital to its operation have not been provided.

Lucy Keaveney, deputy principal of the Castleknock Educate Together school, said the Department of Education had provided them with a beautiful facility that could not open until proper services were received.

"The unit requires speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and psychological staff, none of which are forthcoming," she said.

In a statement issued by Educate Together, the organisation said:

"It is disappointing that the Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, has publicly called for this unit to open without vital services being available (RTE News, 19 Feb 2008).

"Such a call implies that the Board of the school is obstructing the project and displays an attitude that seems primarily concerned with deflecting criticism of the government.

"It also implies that children with autism do not really require specialist health services.

"The appropriate response would have been for the Minister to intervene with her colleague the Minister for Health so that the services required are provided as soon as possible and to work with the school to ensure the unit opens without controversy or public comment.

"The hectoring approach aimed at pressurising the school to act irresponsibly is not helpful."

The Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN) supports the school's stance on the issue:

"The Minister for Education and Science is applying unfair pressure on the Principal and Board of Management of Castleknock Educate Together Primary School to open its special unit for children with autism when essential services are not in place.

"Autism is a complex and challenging condition which, in addition to teaching, requires a range of essential therapies, resources and supports.

"The Principal and Board of Castleknock Educate Together School have acted responsibly by insisting that the special unit for autism in their school be professionally resourced prior to the enrolment of children.

"Pressurising schools to open autism units prematurely is sending out a message that children with autism can make do with less than a full service. The Principal of Castleknock Educate Together School is doing these children a great service by insisting that they get all the supports they need to maximise their educational potential.

"According to IPPN’s 2006 survey of Principals in schools with similar autism units, those units that opened without the full complement of resources and professional services have struggled to acquire these services retrospectively, and in many cases continue to operate without them. IPPN commends the Principal and Deputy Principal for their principled stance in relation to this issue," IPPN said.

Luca's mother, Gail Murphy, said her child cannot go straight into a normal class because he needs special attention due to his autism and behavioural and speech difficulties. She can see his potential fading away day by day, she said.

"They are failing the child, and every extra week and month that passes without Luca going to school is a loss to his education, which is supposed to be his constitutional right," she said.

A spokeswoman for the HSE said decisions on the allocation of funds had not yet been agreed for this year.

"Health Service Executive local management are in regular contact with the school authorities to ensure they are fully informed," she added. (Source: Irish Times and others)