A deafblind man will argue at the High Court that he should be granted legal aid in a discrimination action he is taking over the HSE's refusal to provide him with a sign language interpreter to help him to learn to read braille.
David Eccles (33), of Foxhill, Baldoyle, Dublin 13, has taken a case against the Minister for Justice, Ireland, the Attorney General and the Legal Aid Board over a refusal of aid for complaints he has made to the WRC that he says should be covered by the civil legal aid system.
Eccles has a rare genetic condition called Usher Syndrome Type 1, which affects his hearing, vision and balance and was registered blind when he was 10 years old.
He was born profoundly deaf and has experienced progressive vision loss throughout his life.
Eccles uses Irish Sign Language (ISL) to communicate, which is his first and only accessible language, but he can communicate through an interpreter.
As his vision deteriorates, Eccles will need to use touch-signing, known as hand-over-hand signing, and to learn braille.
It is submitted that Eccles has sought to avail of training and rehabilitative supports, which are made available by the HSE to blind people and that as a Deafblind person he requires an ISL interpreter to access braille training.
However, in September 2025, Eccles was informed that while there were spaces available for him to participate in braille training, the HSE's health contractor Vision Ireland could not fund an ISL interpreter. It is submitted that the applicant therefore was unable to access the training.
Eccles submits to the High Court that this alleged failure of Vision Ireland and the HSE to make an ISL interpreter available to facilitate his braille training amounts to direct discrimination.
Eccles has initiated proceedings before the WRC against Vision Ireland and the HSE and has applied to the Legal Aid Board for funding.
He was informed in January that the Legal Aid Board had decided that his application fell "outside the scope of civil legal aid as the Board does not provide representation at the WRC".
It is submitted that, by reason of disability, Eccles, who is unemployed and dependent on social welfare, does not have the means to pay for legal representation to access the administration of justice within the meaning of the Constitution.
At the High Court today, Colin Smith SC, instructed by Community Law and Mediation, Coolock, Dublin 17, for Eccles, successfully applied to Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty for permission to argue for the quashing of the legal aid refusal. The case is taken under the Equal Status Act 2000 and under the Articles 34, 37 and 40 of the Constitution.
In granting the application to challenge the refusal of legal aid, Ms Justice Gearty said Eccles faced a "nightmarish" situation in terms of logistics for a person in his situation seeking to take the challenge.
Smith said it was "very difficult, if not impossible" for a deaf and blind man to even make the application.
Ms Justice Gearty granted permission for the legal challenge and adjourned the matter to July.
