To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-24316, S2W-25442, S2W-26233, and S2W-26566 by Lewis MacDonald on 27 March, 8 May, 2 June and 19 June 2006 indicating that the Medical Research Council (MRC) had received no proposals of sufficient quality to fund research into the investigation of a link between bowel disease and autism, what the Executive’s position is in respect of MRC’s refusal to fund a proposal to examine 500 autistic children, plus controls, submitted in early 2002 by Dr David Wilson, gastroenterologist, and Dr Anne O’Hare, both from Edinburgh Sick Children’s Hospital, Dr John March from the Moredun Research Institute, Dr M Afzal and Professor Subrata Ghosh, gastroenterologist from Hammersmith Hospital, and whether the Executive will seek a full explanation from the MRC regarding its refusal to fund clinical investigation into the relationship between bowel disease and autism since 2001, given the MRC’s statement that this was a priority area for research.