Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 16 May 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism

Autism Policy: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Brendan Allen:

The broad answer is "Yes". It is an ongoing type. We clearly would not just be engaging with the NDA. We would bring in other people, as I did for our own particular CPD recently. It is when we get down to designing spaces that we see the granular detail of what the NDA is producing in terms of standards and guidelines, etc. It is at that level we frequently find ourselves engaging with the granular stuff. The making of a development plan will generally be a broad, strategic type level of planning. There are aspects of different participation models that could be brought in and which we could develop further at the plan-making stage, like involving neurodiverse people at the public participation process. As the Deputy has probably seen over the years, pre-Covid the making of development plans involved town hall meetings or this, that and the other.