Ms Niamh Kilcawley:

I am blind and a secondary school student who has just finished transition year. I was diagnosed with a brain tumour when I was eight years old. I lost my sight that summer. I had extreme headaches and was rushed down to Beaumont Hospital for surgery. After that was over, I had lost my sight to a significant extent. During that year, I had 18 months of chemotherapy. This meant I had missed attending a great deal of school. I had also missed seeing my friends. During that time, I had to adjust to not only losing my sight but also to going through chemotherapy.

Last year, I sat my junior certificate examinations. I was not aware of all the accommodations I was eligible to receive. I only found out that I was entitled to 20-minute rest breaks and ten minutes extra per hour of each exam. To have the same opportunities and the same breaks as everybody else, I could have the exam times adjusted. I was not made aware of these accommodations, but thanks to Mr. Delaney, I was able to receive them.

I challenge anybody to do an exam with a blindfold on because there is not enough time. It is disgraceful that it is ten minutes extra. For me to dictate to my scribe, have the question read out, tell him or her how to write my answer, to write my name down on the exam paper and even to think about the question means those ten minutes are gone. I do not know how anybody can think that is enough time. I am upset that the individual needs of the student are not taken into account. Everybody is different, yet we are treated as one size fits all.

I hope this change will happen because in two years' time I will be sitting my leaving certificate examinations and the accommodations in that context are worse. For subjects like English, no extra time is allocated as it is seen as being a situation where extra has been added for everyone already. This is disgraceful and makes me think that if these changes do not happen, then this will affect my job opportunities, even though I aspire to be independent. I want to be able to live by myself and to have a job. For me to be able to do this, though, I need people to support me. As Louis Braille once said, we do not need your pity, nor do we need to be reminded we are vulnerable. To be able to be equal, however, we do need your help. I thank the committee.