Ms Clare Gray:

As regards timelines for the autism innovation strategy, I emphasise the Minister of State's commitment that the strategy moves the dial on autism and provides the foundations for a more autism-inclusive society. As Deputy Ó Cathasaigh mentioned, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, announced the initial commitment in 2021, and work has been ongoing to drive forward development of the strategy since that date.

Deputy Ó Cathasaigh mentioned the public consultation. The Minister of State has been very clear that for the strategy to work autistic people and those around them, including families and practitioners, need to be at the forefront of the development of the strategy. The public consultation was convened before anyone put pen to paper to ensure the issues we would go after were driven by what came back from the public consultation. Last year we were involved in a process to appoint an oversight group that will provide a further mechanism for making sure the autistic community is at the forefront of this development process.