Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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124. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide an update on the development of the Autism Innovation Strategy; the expected timeline for the finalisation and publication of the Strategy; if he will provide details of the Autism Innovation Strategy oversight and advisory group; the number of times that the group has met to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50702/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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As part of Autism Awareness Month, in April 2021, I announced the Government’s intention to develop an Autism Innovation Strategy.

The aim of the Autism Innovation Strategy is to identify bespoke challenges and barriers faced by Autistic and Neurodivergent people across Ireland and to deliver tangible solutions to address those issues. The strategy will focus on specific areas that may not be addressed by other national strategies, such as, the National Disability Inclusion Strategy or the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities.

A number of steps have been taken to progress development of the strategy to date. As the first step in the development process, a public consultation was launched on 29 April this year to gather feedback, opinions and insights into the current supports and services provided and to identify specific issues to be addressed by the strategy. The consultation process ran until the end of May 2022. A report analysing the submissions from the public consultation is currently being finalised. The feedback received from this consultation will feed directly into a first draft of the Autism Innovation Strategy.

The second phase of the development of the strategy, comprising of an expression of interest process for membership of the Autism Innovation Strategy Oversight and Advisory Group, was launched in June 2022. This group will play a key role in overseeing implementation of the strategy and it is intended that the group will represent lived experience as much as possible. Applications for membership of the group are currently being assessed and it is anticipated that the group will be appointed in the coming weeks.

The advisory group will provide oversight and critical, constructive analysis that will help the Autism Innovation Strategy to achieve its aims.

Once the results from the public consultation have been analysed and the advisory group has been appointed, my Department will coordinate efforts across Government to develop a draft strategy text.

A further public consultation process will take place to give anyone interested the opportunity to provide further feedback on the strategy before it is finalised and adopted, which is expected to take place in 2023.