Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2022
666. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the status of the provision of financial supports for autistic young people and adults to access self-advocacy training and to develop supports to exercise their rights in the community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37194/22]
View answerAs Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Disability, I am committed to supporting the full inclusion, participation and empowerment of adults and young people with autism in our community.
In April 2021, I launched the development of a national Autism Innovation Strategy which will seek to deliver real and tangible solutions to address the challenges and barriers faced by autistic people across Ireland. This strategy will identify bespoke needs not currently being met in broader disability supports, and will sit harmoniously in the context of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy and the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities.
This strategy is currently under development, following the convocation of an initial public consultation and an expression of interest process to appoint an Oversight and Advisory Group.
At present, there are no plans to establish dedicated financial supports for the purposes of supporting autistic young people and adults to access self-advocacy training and supports to exercise their rights in the community. However, where bespoke and unmet needs are identified, they will be considered in the development of the Autism Innovation Strategy.
It is important to note that neurodiverse people are already supported through the provision of broader supports for persons with disabilities.
In October 2021, I was delighted to launch a new annual Disability Participation and Awareness Fund (DPAF) worth €2.5 million in 2021. The purpose of DPAF is to provide funding to support the participation of people with disabilities in local activities and to remove barriers to community involvement. Through DPAF 2021, funding was provided for a number of projects that aimed to support people with disabilities, including those with autism and neurodiversity, to participate and engage more fully in their local communities. Work is underway on a follow-on fund which will be awarded this year.
My Department also supports the Disability Participation and Consultation Network (DPCN) through grant funding to five organisations for the purposes of building capacity among the disability community in Ireland. Funding has been provided to AsIAm in this regard with the aim of reaching widely across the community of autistic people, including young people and adults. Through the support and capacity building programmes delivered to date, this funding has contributed in part to the development of self-advocacy skills.
