The Government will publish a plan for people with autism, including targeted training for gardaí, health staff and local housing officers.
A Cabinet subcommittee on health has agreed to include a number of specific proposals in a revised National Disability Strategy Implementation Plan.
The proposals include ensuring that public service workers receive awareness training, as well as drawing up new guidelines for gardaí and those working in the justice system for engagement with people with autism.
A briefing note discussed at the subcommittee, seen by The Irish Times, said specific measures across a number of Government departments, including Justice, Health, Education and Environment, need to be introduced.
The Department of Justice and Equality will be called on to launch an autism awareness initiative, while the Health Service Executive and the Department of Health will be required to upskill some of their key personnel.
The briefing note also listed the requirement for specific and targeted training in autism for teachers and special needs assistants.
Young people
The Cabinet subcommittee note outlined the need for a pilot project aimed at supporting young people with disabilities to help them make the transition from second level education to further education, training and employment.
The plan, which is due to be launched in the autumn, will say local authority housing officers should also avail of autism training.
It will say the National Disability Agency should help the Department of the Environment to develop guidelines on providing suitable housing and supports for people affected by autism.
1% of the population
Autism is believed to affect one in 100 people in Ireland, but no specific actions are included in the current National Disability Strategy Implementation Plan, which has run from 2013 and is due to expire this year.
The Government said there was a gap that needed to be rectified, and that consultation had begun with autism stakeholders.
This is the first such plan in Ireland and will be published alongside a comprehensive employment strategy for people with a disability.
A range of new measures, including appointing special-needs assistants to preschool children, are being considered for that initiative. This could mean assistants would be hired to work in preschools in an effort to intervene at the earliest stage.
A Government source said the strategy would be about empowering employers to hire people with disabilities and to assist those who acquired a disability in their employment.
“There will be individual measures with clear targets,” according to the source. “The targets are reasonably ambitious. This is an issue of justice, not charity.”