The National Gender Service (NGS) has estimated that as many as 90pc of the people who used its service in 2022 may be autistic.

Each year, the NGS carries out an audit of its service users. A spokesman for the Ireland East Hospital Group said: “Based on these audits the NGS has seen an increase in the number of people attending their service with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD).

“This number was as low as 3pc in 2014. The last time a full-service audit looking at the prevalence of ASD was in 2019. At that stage, the number was 34pc. A repeat audit is ongoing and the expectation for 2022 is that figure will increase significantly and may reach as high as 90pc. This will be confirmed at the end of this year when the audit is finalised.”