Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is a huge amount in that regard. Putting supports in place for people that allow them to be all they can be, to use a terrible term, is the framework the committee generally deals with.

There are two parts to this: putting in place strategies that work with professionals and others who interact with various cohorts, including autistic people; and providing particular skill sets or mitigation strategies to autistic people themselves. The latter goes without saying. If we could do all of that tomorrow, we would live in a much better world. That is why this research and, beyond it, pilot programmes and, eventually, initiatives that work across society make complete sense.

Did Dr. Lopez say genetic causes accounted for 20%? She referred to genomic sequencing work that was being done. What has that shown? If genetics only account for 20%, what accounts for the rest? Deputy Tully asked a question about something we were all wondering about. Can Dr. Lopez say conclusively that we have not had an increase in the percentage of autistic people and that the current numbers are just down to diagnoses that were not being made previously?