Martin Ferris
Question:341 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the proposed strategy to address the issue of autism on an all-Ireland basis. [3171/05]
View answerWednesday, 2 February 2005
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The Deputy will be aware that a major landmark in the development of autism specific services was the joint launch last September by my predecessor and the Minister with responsibility for Education in Northern Ireland of the Middletown Centre for Autism. This marked the successful completion of the purchase of the former St. Joseph's adolescent centre, Middletown, County Armagh on behalf of the Department of Education in the North and the Department of Education and Science in the Republic. Both Departments plan to refurbish the property to meet the needs of a centre of excellence for children and young people with autism throughout the island of Ireland. The centre will be dedicated to improving and enriching the educational opportunities of children and young people with autistic spectrum disorders.
Four key services will be provided by the centre: a learning support service, on a residential basis; an educational assessment service; a training and advisory service; and an autism research and information service.
Since the launch, my officials have had a number of meetings with their counterparts in Northern Ireland regarding the further development of the centre. A number of working groups are continuing to address the legal, financial, organisational and infrastructural aspects of the proposal. For example, work is continuing on the development of a campus masterplan for the Middletown property which, when complete, will guide the commissioning of any necessary infrastructure and refurbishment works. In addition, the process for the recruitment of a chief executive officer to operate the centre is being formulated at present.