Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I wish to raise the problem that seems to have existed for some time with the quantity and capacity of production from the NBPC, the National Braille Production Centre, in Cabra. A constituent has notified me of a difficulty. Her son who has a sight problem has not been provided with the books he requires. She has had a kind of Kafkaesque dialogue with a State-aided organisation in which trying to get information is like trying to get blood from a stone. From the reply to a parliamentary question I tabled, I understand that 146 clients are waiting to have Braille books delivered. Of those, 90 clients will have their books provided before Christmas. When I sent this information back to my constituent I got the following response:

We have been trying to get answers from the NBPC and have failed and have considered the FOI Act. Can you advise if the FOI Act would be a channel we could use to get information from the NBPC? We have also been in touch with the Equality Authority who have expressed an interest in our case. . . . . As you can see from the response to your question the number of outstanding Braille books is very high. These students are obviously waiting for their books since September which is outrageous. The NBPC kept telling us that we were an isolated case. [My son] received another 12 pages of one of his maths books last week (the order having been placed in early July), again some of the contents arriving too late for him to benefit from. He is still waiting for the remaining chapters which we have been told won't arrive now until next year. In relation to the orders outstanding for the other students I wonder how long ago they were placed.

In a separate note she communicated to me as follows:

[A] Visiting Teacher recently gave our family a demonstration in Braille production. Within minutes even my 13 year old was able to translate text to Braille on the PC and send it to an electronic Braille embosser, ready for [my son] to read. The process is so simple and straightforward that I cannot understand why the NBPC cannot produce enough books for so few students, and on time.

This is no reflection on the Minister who is present but I am sorry the Minister with direct knowledge of the area or the Minister of State is not here to reply to this matter. What is the problem and why has it taken so long for books to be produced? Partially sighted and blind students have enough disabilities to contend with in the context of their education. This should not be compounded by what seems to me to be inexplicable inefficiency from this body. I have no reason to doubt that modern technology linking computers to an embossing machine could produce these kinds of documents very quickly. People who are blind or seriously disadvantaged by a sight disability cannot get the books they require on order, even though the knowledge and data of their existence is well established.

Perhaps the Minister who is here on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science has an answer. Citizens of this State should not be treated by a publicly-funded organisation as if they were some kind of persons to whom information could not be given and should not be forced to resort to their public representatives asking questions on their behalf. If this Republic is to celebrate any kind of maturity, then surely we should treat citizens with respect and they should be able to get this information themselves.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the question. I have noted carefully what he has said and he will find some interesting information in the reply.

The National Braille Production Centre was established in 2000 to provide blind and visually impaired pupils at first and second level with textbooks in Braille and other alternative formats. The National Braille Production Centre produces educational materials in Braille, large print format and text-only for children who are blind or visually impaired. It is an essential service to children and young people who are blind or visually impaired and without it many of them would not be able to access mainstream education or be able to undertake the junior and senior cycle examinations.

It is important that this service is adequately funded to enable it to meet the needs of children who are blind or visually impaired. The Department of Education and Science provides annual funding to the National Braille Production Centre of €867,000.

The National Braille Production Centre has expanded from a workforce of four in 2000 to 26 in 2007. The centre has achieved a huge increase in textbook production in the past seven years, with client numbers increasing dramatically from 17 clients in 2000 to 301 clients in 2007. The centre has advised the Department of Education and Science that it has delivered 95% of all guaranteed book orders this year.

The National Braille Production Centre operates under an agreed timeframe for book orders and deliveries. As high-standard Braille production for education is both time and work intensive — I have noted what the Deputy said about computers and I see a role for them — the timeframe ideally envisages orders to be placed as early as possible in an academic year for the following September. It is accepted practice generally that when a new title is transcribed, the book will be delivered to the student in volumes, unless it is a title that has been previously transcribed, in which case all volumes are available very quickly.

In the case of late orders or other unforeseen circumstances where a delay occurs in the provision of books, officials from the National Braille Production Centre, in conjunction with the parents of the pupil or student and the Department's visiting teacher service for the visually impaired, work together to establish solutions to provide the books in a timely manner. In isolated cases a delay might occur due to very late orders, for example, after May of an academic year for the following September, or difficult texts that require manual Braille input and diagram drawing, for example, Braille mathematics. Another factor in a delay is that during 2007, the National Braille Production Centre has advised that it experienced an unexpected increase in orders and client numbers.

The Department's visiting teacher service for the visually impaired has a significant role to play in the process of ordering books or materials on behalf of a particular pupil or student. In 2006, a protocol dealing solely and exclusively with the provision of educational materials in alternative formats was agreed between the National Braille Production Centre and the Department's visiting teacher service for the visually impaired. The protocol was devised on the initiative of the visiting teacher service for the visually impaired and will be reviewed very shortly on the basis of current experience in its operation. Any amendments to the protocol will be put in place and communicated to all relevant interests, including parents, without delay following the review.

I wish to advise the Deputy that there is also an advisory board for the National Braille Production Centre in place which includes representation from parents and guardians and other interested parties, including the visiting teacher service for the visually impaired.

I thank the Deputy once again for raising this issue. I hope that by discussion and negotiation with the centre the problems he so well described will be resolved because I fully accept that being without books would be a huge impediment for any student.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I thank the Minister.