The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism has called on the Government to subsidise travel costs for workers in the disability services who are employed abroad to encourage them to take up positions at home.
It is one of 109 recommendations made in a new report on autism services which calls for long-term workforce planning to address a range of staff shortages.
In its final report, the committee said it was "shocked and alarmed" at some of the costs associated with living with autism in Ireland and it is "concerned at the basic lack of services" for people with autism such as adequate school places.
It is calling for an autism strategy to be published every three years, underpinned by new laws and a monitoring group with autistic people to be established.
The report also calls for "adequate financial supports" for families who access assessments privately due to their unavailability in the public health system.
The committee which was set up in February 2022 identified a number of key issues including delays in assessment of need, poor access to assessments and services, a lack of inclusivity in education and a lack of employment supports.
The committee heard that 85% of people with autism are either unemployed or underemployed.
Data collected in 2014 and 2015 show the average cost to families of autistic children was Over €28,400 per child per year due to accessing private services, loss of income and informal care.
The report outlines that people with autism have a shorter life expectancy than their neurotypical peers with estimates suggesting they die between 16 and 30 years earlier than non-autistic people.
They are also seven times more likely to die by suicide and are more likely to die by almost every common cause of death when compared with people who do not have autism.
The committee identified that while resourcing is important there is also "a need for a change in mindset".
Advocates including autistic people and their families told the committee they have been "consistently let down by the state and it is difficult for them to trust public services when they have been failed so often".
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Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Disability Anne Rabbitte welcomed the publication of the report.
She said her priority will be the Autism Innovation Strategy and said that will be in place soon but added: "We don't need legislation, what I need is a willingness within departments, what I need is a willingness within organisations to actually understand what they can do to make it more accessible, more inclusive more autistic friendly."
Speaking at the launch of a new initiative to make public transport more autism-friendly, Ms Butler also cited the recruitment of workers from abroad as an area she will prioritise.
She said: "We have a deficit there's no denying that whatsoever and in actual fact we need to bridge that gap, so whatever mechanism is available to me I will leave no stoned unturned" and she said this will be done "I'm talking weeks, not months not years, weeks."
Speaking in the Dáil, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that there he has "no doubt that there will be additional funding for autism services in the forthcoming budget".
He also welcomed the publication report and said that he will be meeting the committee chairperson in the coming weeks to discuss implementing its recommendations.
"What needs to be done is about much more than money", Mr Varadkar added.
He was responding to Fianna Fáil's Pádraig O'Sullivan who noted that the report included 109 recommendations and followed a year of hearings.
Speaking to RTÉ's News at One, chair of the committee Micheál Carrigy said: "We're way behind, we have not served our citizens well, we haven't put the supports in place, we haven't given the services" to autistic people.
He said there was a need for society in general to better understand and include people with autism.
Mr Carrigy said that when the Autism Innovation Strategy is published early next year, it will be needed to be underpinned and reviewed on an annual basis.
