The national monitoring committee, which includes representatives of the Department of Health and Children, the Health Research Board, the chief executives of the health boards, the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies Providing Services to People with Intellectual Disability, the National Parents and Siblings Alliance and the National Association for the Mentally Handicapped of Ireland, is also involved in the monitoring of the development of services for persons with autism. It is important that we continue to strive to provide services for those not in a position to provide services for themselves. As colleagues on the other side of the House have said, the great crusades of people like Kathryn Sinnott should be applauded. Ms Sinnott and others have fought ongoing cases over many years to ensure their children can get a break in life. Many people, some of whom are members of large families, have been discarded in the corner of houses for many years. Cases like that of Christopher Nolan, with whose father I served as a staff nurse at St. Loman's Hospital, have proved that such people can have a very high level of intelligence. If the belated interest in this subject, which has manifested itself in this and other debates, contributes to better services for persons with autism, so be it.