James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to be associated with the comments made on the great work done by the Dublin Fire Brigade last night in saving lives, as well as the work it does day in and day out to protect us. It is a group of individuals, like gardaí and others, who place their lives between us and harm. I wish to acknowledge the great work done not just by the Dublin Fire Brigade but all the fire services around the country and the many volunteers.

I commend the Irish Cancer Society given the week that is in it. I had the honour of addressing the Danish cancer society last week in Denmark on the scourge that is tobacco. We have been joined by many young people in the Gallery and I wish to tell them to never, ever smoke. It is an industry I have described as evil because it seeks to addict young children into a habit that will kill one in two of them prematurely. That is a fact. I thank the Irish Cancer Society for all its support in helping us to overcome the challenges we faced when facing big tobacco and the litigation and threats which were made to this country in many different ways.I wish, however, to correct the record, a Chathaoirligh, because before the St. Patrick's Day break, I mentioned that the Autism Spectrum Disorder Bill was passed in this House in October or November. I went back and checked my records because it seemed so recent and found it was 12 July. I said at the time that I would keep raising this issue to find out the status of this Bill. Autism is a condition that directly affects 65,000 of our citizens, as well as the quarter of a million people who are in their families and the hundreds of thousands more who are their friends. This Bill is hugely important to those people. Children with autism have opportunities to correct the developmental anomalies they suffer from such as the lack of speech or their inability to socialise. When those opportunities are missed, parents look on in desperation and acute anxiety and try all sorts of alternative care, often to their detriment and certainly to the detriment of their wallets and incomes. Many of these families are struggling to make ends meet in caring for their loved ones. These children, as we know, can have tremendous outcomes and can be very positive people in society if they get intervention early in life. I ask the Leader again to bring the Minister in here to explain to us where this Bill is. We are coming into Easter and there is still no sign of it. I accept that the Department of Health is a busy one and that it has many Bills on its plate. However, it cannot ignore this group of citizens or be allowed to leave this on the back burner. I will continue to raise the matter week in, week out. I looked at the change.orgwebsite this morning. I said recently that 71,000 had signed up to support the Bill and there are now just short of 73,000 signatures. This issue will not go away. I urge those who have not done so to join that site in support of the Bill. We must act. The terrible thing is that this is just to bring in a Bill to ensure that a strategy is put in place. It is not even the end or the end of the beginning. We are way back. I urge the Minister, notwithstanding all that he has on his plate, to ensure that this Bill is brought into the Dáil.