Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey has welcomed the allocation of €2 million for the Autism Plan in last week’s budget announcement.
“People with autism and their families in Clare will benefit from this funding which will be directed in a number of priority areas.
“Chief among these is the implementation of a programme of awareness raising that can provide a better information resource for children and parents about what supports are available; a campaign to assist in creating awareness of the challenges, needs and experiences of people with autism; and building capacity and competence amongst key professionals working with autism. This will include a national training programme for clinicians and the implementation of a tiered model of assessment in order to improve access to and responses from services for those with Autism Spectrum Disorder,” he explained.
“The proposed campaign will have two key aims, to support and to educate. We want to improve the information provided to people with ASD and their families and help guide them to the supports available from our health service throughout their lives and to create a wider public environment in Ireland that was more aware of the lives, needs and experiences of people with ASD,” Deputy Carey concluded.
