Mr. Pat Healy:

We must address the issues in the north Dublin area. It is recognised there are significant gaps in early intervention in north Dublin and in autism spectrum disorder services in the north of Dublin city. We will allocate 21 posts, which will make a significant difference. These 21 posts, together with the five posts approved last year and other replacement posts, will mean a 20% increase in the resources available.

The point made by my education colleagues is correct. The health system does not have approval to proceed as special classes are developed. We do not have the resources to match education in the same fashion. There was acknowledgement that to roll out a reconfiguration of the services additional resources are required, and €4 million was secured by the Minister to give effect to this. This will go a long way. We will implement a post specifically focused on developing outcomes associated with the model, which will help to demonstrate the benefit and measure how we progress.