Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I, too, want to avail of the opportunity to wish the Minister well in his new portfolio and congratulate him on his frontline responsibilities.

Does his response represent the fact that the new Minister for Education and Science is approaching the whole issue of autism spectrum disorder with a new copy book? I must take hope from what he says, that the discussions, as he terms them, will indeed address the serious outstanding issues which were left on the departure of the previous Minister. I expect the Minister accepts that autism spectrum disorder, by its nature, covers varying degrees of severity and, therefore, different responses are required. If the Minister is not in a position to provide the detail, what we need is an affirmation of his intent to fully recognise the importance of ABA for those children for whom it is clearly appropriate, and that is the critical point. We want to see appropriate measures and opportunities in place which are accessible to all children on the basis of their respective needs.

Will the Minister indicate a willingness on the part of the Department under his stewardship to approach the whole provision of funding and resources for ABA on the basis of need as required across the board?

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