Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 November 2023
490. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if all Government Departments have a dedicated autism policy in place; and which Departments have developed a policy and which have not, in tabular form. [51943/23]
View answerThe Government is committed to better meeting the needs of autistic people in the State. Action on autism, as with action on disability more broadly, is advanced on a mainstream first basis, with individual departments and agencies supporting persons with disabilities within their areas of responsibility. My Department acts as a central coordination point to support these efforts.
The last National Disability Inclusion Strategy provided a framework within which whole of government disability issues could be addressed in a mainstream first and coordinated manner. A significant focus of the work in my department at the moment is on evolving that model to ensure that the public sector understands disability and addresses the needs of disabled people, including autistic people, in the delivery of all mainstream services in a mainstreamed and coordinated manner. In addition to this, many departments have included disability in a very wide range of policies and practices, and all proposals going to cabinet must set out the implications for disabled persons of the proposed measure.
Alongside this mainstream first approach, it is recognised that there bespoke challenges facing autistic people that need to be better addressed. It is for this reason that I have prioritised development of a new national strategy on autism, the Autism Innovation Strategy.
The Autism Innovation Strategy will provide a further framework for cross-Government action on autism, which is designed to complement and enhance existing policy frameworks. It will seek to provide for better mainstream understanding and accommodation of the needs of Autistic people across the public system.
Development of the strategy is currently at an advanced stage with drafting of the strategy being finalised at present. This follows several months of engagements right across Government to agree a suite of clear, simple actions that can address gaps in existing supports and services for Autistic people within an 18 month timeframe. This process has included careful consideration of the recommendations contained in the final report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism and the findings of a public consultation held in 2022.
Once drafting of the strategy is complete, there will be a further public consultation prior to the formal adoption of the Autism Innovation Strategy. It intended that implementation of the strategy will begin in early 2024 and that is the clear focus of work at present.
