Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late. We have had many people come to our committee who are dealing with early learning and the early years, when a family finds out their child has autism. It was very aspirational of us to want to get to a stage where we are now discussing with and meeting people who are contributing to the lives of adults with autism. It is amazing and their work is inspirational. Hopefully, people will look at them and say "God, these guys did it. They are in a big institution. We could try something similar."

Autism touches many families and people do not know what to do to help. Many big organisations have people with autism. Hopefully, they will look at these projects and think that it will not just help an individual, but it will help all of them to be more inclusive. All their staff will benefit, as will all of us. Obviously, people with autism and their families will benefit hugely. The programme is great and, without sounding patronising, it is wonderful. Families watching this committee will think it is great that there is a pathway for their son or daughter and that they can have such an experience. It is really heartening. Let us know if there is anything we can do as a committee to sell the good story. We would be delighted to help in any way we can.