Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, to the House.

Tom Shehan (Fine Gael)
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I welcome my fellow county man, the Minister of State, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, to the Seanad. I raise the need for the Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for primary care, social care, disabilities and older people, and mental health to introduce Ireland's first ever national autism awareness week from 1 April to 8 April 2016 and to have Ireland's first ever national autism awareness day on 2 April 2016 as a commencement debate. This is a very important matter and one which I will champion. The reason I have suggested 1 April to 8 April is that it coincides with World Autism Week, and 2 April coincides with World Autism Day.

For too long, people with autism have suffered in silence, many not even knowing that they have the condition. More must be done in order to highlight autism and its effects. I have been in contact with Irish Autism Action which agrees with me that we need to educate society about autism. It is its belief and mine that the people of Ireland are unaware how many suffer with autism. Irish Autism Action refers to a study which shows that one in 100 people in Ireland suffer with this condition at some level on the spectrum. However, that might be a conservative estimate, as in the UK it is believed that one in 88 people are on the autism spectrum.

The purpose of this Commencement debate is to raise awareness about autism. For every one that has the condition, five to six other people in the family are also affected. It is important that this message is delivered throughout society, and to one and all, to let people who are dealing with autism on a daily basis know that they are not on their own. The Government has implemented a number of measures to help improve the lives of people with autism. An additional €4 million was allocated in 2014 to assist in the implementation of the progressing disability services programme, equating to approximately 80 additional therapy posts. Further investment of €4 million has been provided this year to support the programme's ongoing implementation.

Improving access to therapy services for children in primary care and in disability services is a particular priority for the Government. Additional funding of €12 million was allocated by the Health Service Executive to meet the needs of approximately 1,400 young people who required continuing health-funded supports on leaving school or rehabilitative training this year. However, we can and must do more. We can also look to the Step Ahead programme and, in turn, roll out the programme throughout the country. Step Ahead is a unique 14 week interdisciplinary programme, providing both direct intervention and parent training and education to children under the age of five diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. The child receives four hours of direct support weekly, two hours each Monday and Thursday, by skilled interventionists under the guidance and direct supervision of the team's speech and language therapist, occupational therapist and board certified behaviour analyst. The aim of the programme is to provide meaningful assessment across all early learning domains to establish strengths and needs, identify the most effective individualised intervention strategies and support parents to learn the intervention techniques to promote continued growth beyond the duration of the programme. Ultimately, the goal is to encourage at as young an age as possible those skills necessary to benefit from the most naturalistic and inclusive settings. We need to help extend this model to more families.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Sheahan for raising this issue today and I compliment him on his presentation and its content. I am pleased to outline the position on the situation on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch.

I am aware that every year, autism organisations around the world celebrate World Autism Awareness Day in early April with unique fundraising and awareness-raising events. This is a very good way of maintaining focus on citizens with autism and their families. However, what has struck the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, again and again, is that the one thing that people with a disability want more than any other, regardless of their condition, is to live as normal a life as possible in the community and to have the same opportunities as all other citizens to participate in their community. Government policy in relation to disability is not condition specific and encompasses all citizens who have a disability. At this stage, the Minister of State does not believe there is a need to introduce a specific national autism awareness week.The Government is already committed, under the national disability strategy, NDS, to ensuring that people with autism are empowered by policy and programmes to participate meaningfully as citizens in society. The NDS is driven by this basic but fundamentally important objective and is the most effective combination of legislation, policies, institutional arrangements and services to support and reinforce equal participation for all people with disabilities.

A comprehensive consultation process is under way with a view to putting in place a new national disability inclusion strategy. This process is being led by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin. This will allow interested parties to make recommendations in key areas such as service provision, accommodation, health, employment, and education.

The Cabinet committee on social policy has been examining issues around autism across Departments in association with the National Disability Authority, NDA. This work by the NDA, which has included consultation with families, has been of significant assistance in informing how best to address the needs of people with ASD as part of the national disability strategy, which covers a wide range of policy areas across Departments and agencies, so that we can be sure that they are appropriately reflected and included in policies and actions. The proposed approach was also discussed with the national disability strategy steering group. A programme of specific measures has now been agreed for delivery by the relevant Departments and agencies, including specific actions to be delivered by the NDA.

Tom Shehan (Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Deenihan for his reply on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. I am quite disappointed that she does not feel there is a need to introduce a specific national autism awareness week. Why is that the case? We want to highlight autism and it would be of no cost to the State or Department. I believe strongly that we should have a national autism day and week in order to raise awareness of autism spectrum disorder. I will speak directly to the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. The only direct question I have for her is why can we not have a national autism day and week to highlight autism, the people who suffer from it and the families that live with it every day?

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I will convey Senator Sheahan's comments to the Minister of State. His commitment to having an awareness week is very much reflected in his contribution here this morning. It should be examined further and I will request that Minister of State facilitates this.