Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)

I will add that all our thoughts are with those on the flotilla. It is hugely important that Ireland does all it can on the world stage to ensure the safety of those on board.

This week, we saw the US President and health secretary coming out with bizarre and unfounded assertions about links between paracetamol and autism. I want to share the horror of AsIAm CEO Adam Harris, who said that the risk of harmful tropes could set us back decades with regard to understanding autism. He said it is dangerous to make these sorts of claims because it stigmatises autistic people and poses a danger to public health. I am concerned about the impact those remarks in the US may have on autistic people here, not least because of the disgraceful remarks made about autism here just last week by a Member of this Chamber, Deputy Danny Healy-Rae. I ask the Minister if he and his Government will stand firm against these bizarre theories that have no basis in science. Will the Government call out anti-science rhetoric, particularly where it pertains to autistic people, and will it commit to seeing services installed, particularly in this budget, to allow autistic people in Ireland to live with dignity and have access to the services that are so desperately needed?

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