Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for arriving late. I was speaking in the Dáil. Many things arise from today. The earlier session was also fantastic. I hope Mr. Foote will not mind me saying that I have known him since before I knew he was autistic because we have a shared love of bicycles. That shows the invisibility of autism, in so many cases. You cannot see it. It is not immediately obvious in the person you are speaking to. We need to increase the awareness within our society that this is one of the things we encounter. As Ms Lautwein said, it is just another mindset. When I found out Mr. Foote was autistic it did not diminish him in any way. It was just another piece of information I added; he liked bicycles and he was autistic. That was just another facet of his make-up I became aware of. I was very struck by what Mr. Cullivan said about a WhatsApp group where people talked about him being autistic. I guess they used it as an insult, which it should not be. It is just a reality. It should not be any more an insult than an ethnic background or a sexual orientation. It should just be a matter of, "This is just a fact about me. I am tall. I have a Waterford accent." It should just be another descriptor. It should not be something used as an insult.

I was struck by a point I have spoken with Mr. Harris about previously. I was a primary school teacher before I was elected. Thinking back on it now, as my awareness of autism increases, whatever about the boys I taught - I was probably attuned to what autism in boys looked like - I wonder how many girls I taught who were autistic who I did not see or notice because it maybe did not look like my picture of autism. That is a huge awareness piece we have to build on. We have to make sure that awareness is out there far more for people.

Just as I did in the previous session, I thank people for their bravery in coming forward. To come to this forum to say personal things about themselves is not an easy thing to do. It requires people to really put themselves out there. It is so important for the committee that our representatives' voices are in the report at the end so it is not just a bunch of people in Leinster House with some helicopter view. We should hear from that real lived experience from people who have arrived at diagnoses late and have suddenly had that re-understanding of how they lived their lives. That is such an important perspective. It has been highly beneficial for the committee to hear their experiences and those of the speakers we heard this morning.

It has really educated us. I think we will see that reflected in the recommendations that we make in the final report. As I did earlier, I pass on my huge and heartfelt thanks to the witnesses for having that personal bravery and courage to come here today and to tell their stories.