Ms Eileen Battersby:

I thank the committee for the invitation to be here. I am a self-advocate with lived experience of vision impairment. I am presently taking a course with the national learning network in Ballyfermot. It is a QQI level 4 qualification in employment-based training. My work experience is with Vision Ireland, which was the NCBI, where I assist the tutors and support the students in the National Training Centre on the Whitworth Road.

I have always had low vision. I have congenital cataracts. I found ways to negotiate the world with the help of my parents and family. I attended St. Mary's school for blind girls in Merrion in the 1970s, where I gained independence skills from my teachers and peers and achieved my leaving certificate.

I always wanted to study nursing but, because of my low vision, this became a hurdle too far. However, through my determination, I found a job in healthcare, as a healthcare assistant working with people with intellectual and physical disabilities for more than 35 years.

Unfortunately, over the years, my mental health suffered and, as a result, I discovered that I was actually in denial about my vision impairment for many years. I never disclosed this in my workplace because I feared losing my job. My fears were realised after I applied to Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind for a guide dog. I was matched with my first dog, Hattie, in 2012. After being on sick leave, I had to attend the medical officer before I could return to work. His decision was that I had no useful vision. As a result, my employment was terminated. I had been doing that job for 35 years. I was guided towards the NCBI, which is now Vision Ireland, and I found many ways of coping. In particular, I learned ICT skills using assistive technology. Now I am giving back.

In my work placement with people who are losing or have lost their eyesight, I enjoy helping people gain skills to live independently. We have designed a training kitchen equipped with adapted items at the national training centre of Vision Ireland. A very basic task is to make a cup of tea for yourself, but this can be very daunting for someone who has lost his or her sight. However, with the use of a one-cup kettle and a liquid level indicator, this task is really satisfying for those who have just lost their sight. We intend to continue that by giving people the chance of working, making their own breakfast and using a microwave and an air fryer.

Unfortunately, there are barriers for people who have visual impairments. For adults, these barriers relate mostly to employment. The provision of services to meet their education and training needs - a person who is losing his or her sight has to learn to live in a different way - is very beneficial but, unfortunately, the only such place in Ireland is the training centre of Vision Ireland. People who atttend the centre, particularly those from rural areas, find transport very difficult. It is important. If people get the right training and assistive technology, they can return to their work or gain employment. This all ties in to the cost of assistive technology.

The problem we all face is that sighted people do not really understand. A person who has a white cane or a guide dog is not necessarily blind. There are so many different versions of visual impairment. There is a need for a campaign to educate people on the needs and wants of those who have a visual impairment and how to support them. I would love to see the roll-out of something like what I am doing now, with the creation of places throughout the country to which people could go. I call them blind sheds, similar to men's sheds, where people can share their experiences. Many blind and visually impaired people have a lot to give, especially to people who are newly visually impaired. I am very new to all of this awareness around advocacy, but I want to do it and learn more because I know how important it has become.

I ask committee members to be aware that I do not see across the room so if they want to speak to me, I ask that they announce themselves to me and then I will be able to respond. Thanks very much for having me here today