Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I have allowed leniency, because it is important to allow people to continue with their train of thought and it is helpful to members who come in later. This is the first meeting of the committee I have chaired and I apologise for stumbling over a name at the start. I was reading verbatim from my notes. My grandmother volunteered with the NCBI for upwards of 30 years. The organisation is very close to my heart. Many really positive contributions were made today, but the discussion shows the shocking reality for those who are blind and visually impaired. I will follow on from some of the comments Deputy Farrell made, in that we have not touched on that piece around accessibility. I have certainly been to other countries in the past while, where one can see people with disabilities out in the streets and going to their workplaces. That bit about getting from A to B is critical. We do not get that right, or certainly have not done so up until now in this country. I am keen to hear about other countries that get it right, especially from the point of view of STEM. The shocking reality is that the only reason people are not going into STEM is because we are not making it accessible for them.