Vol. 529 No. 1
1172 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Education and Science the timeframe for the appointment by his Department of an internationally recognised expert in the field of autism to advise on the development of services in this area and a clinical psychologist to advise on the needs of individual pupils with autism as indicated in the reply to parliamentary Question Nos. 76 and 78 of 11 October 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1347/01]
The appointments to which the Deputy refers are being pursued by my Department as part of a range of measures which I recently announced to strengthen the quality of special education services for children with autism.
The specialised nature of the area in question and the level of expertise required of potential appointees presents significant limitations in terms of the availability of suitable candidates for appointment to these posts. My Department is currently working to identify suitable experts for appointment to these posts.
