Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 237: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of children born with autism or Asperger's spectrum in each of the past 10 years to date in 2008 in each of the EU countries; the extent of research undertaken in each country arising therefrom; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9767/08]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 238: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the full extent of research undertaken to determine the cause or contributory causes of the high incident of autism here; her proposals in this regard in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9768/08]

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 237 and 238 together.

The Department of Health and Children does not collect data on the number of children born with autism or Asperger's syndrome in this country. It does not know whether such information is available from each EU member state, or the extent of the research undertaken in each country. There has been an increase in recent years in the number of children being diagnosed with autism in Ireland. Similar increases have been experienced in other European countries and the USA. It is not clear whether the increase is due to greater awareness or whether there is a true increase in the prevalence of autism. It is recognised that the epidemiology of Autistic Spectrum Disorder is undergoing rapid change due in whole or part to better ascertainment and re-clarification. The diagnosis is a clinical one — it is based on a variety of observations rather than a defined laboratory investigation. Hence the evolving concept of an "autistic spectrum" which stretches from those severely affected to those with only a mild disability.

In December 2004, the Department of Health and Children, through the Health Research Board, approved expenditure of €5 million on autism research to help improve international understanding of the genetic causes of autism. This €5 million is the Irish contribution to a major international research initiative called the Autism Genome Project which will receive a total investment of €12 million from a variety of international organisations over the next three years. The other co-funders in the international consortium include Autism Speaks (US), the British Medical Research Council (MRC), Genome Canada and Partners, Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center (SARRC), and the Hilibrand Foundation. This unique combination of international, public and private partners funding a consortium of clinicians and scientists is a new and welcome departure in the field of autism research. The Health Research Board has informed my Department that this funding was awarded as follows: €2.8 million to Professor Michael Gill, Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College, Dublin; and €2.2 million to Professor Andrew Green, Director National Centre for Medical Genetics, Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, which is affiliated to UCD. This figure represents the largest tranche of funding to be awarded by any of the four funders within the international consortium. The Irish researchers are at the forefront in unravelling the genetic determinants of autism and related disorders. They are using novel state-of-the-art genetic sequencing technology to analyse DNA samples taken from autistic patients to identify candidate genetic markers for autism. They will collaborate with their international colleagues to then link these genetic markers with clinical outcomes. This unique international research effort will greatly improve not only our understanding of the causes of autism, but its diagnosis and treatment.