Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills
Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion
Mr. Aaron Mullaniff:
I am conscious of time but I might comment on the importance of buses and longer journeys. We are seeing this across the country. We cannot underestimate the importance of mobility and independent mobility. We are in the business of getting people safely from A to B. It is a huge challenge for us and we have significant waitlists. There is a little bit of a patchwork quilt in how funding is operating at the moment. It is only funded in the South in terms of resourcing. It is so important because it becomes an indicator of employability. When someone finally gets a job they need to be able to leave their house to get to work. That piece is particularly important for children and young people and that is where summer provision and the expanded core curriculum come in as well.