Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I said it was their prerogative. I re-endorse that. The transcript will show that I said it was their prerogative.

Let us put this in context because that is really important. I want to take this opportunity to welcome the people in the Visitors Gallery, some of whom I know. I also want to welcome the people who are listening to the debate because they are particularly interested in this issue.

We see all the asks, and I agree with every single one of them. I am more interested to hear what the Minister of State has to say in response to the asks. Before I move on, I refer to a pilot scheme with the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. The Leader will be very familiar with its work as it is based in Cork on the Model Farm Road. A pilot scheme was initiated with the Department of Education and Skills for children in respect of home schooling and education. It was for children who had no eye sockets in their head and for children who had no eyes. The pilot scheme has been renewed every year. No one has ever appraised that pilot scheme properly. Every year the charity has to make a case for it. Parents have to make a case and lobby for it - parents who have children lying on the ground in their homes who need support and care. No one should have to beg and to agitate constantly for services for their children, not to mention adults who are suffering.

I am happy to share some of the detail with the Minister of State afterwards, or at some other point, to update him on the latest information I have on it. I put a request into the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind today for the most up-to-date detail on it. It does enormous work.

Someone talked earlier about the emotional aspects of the disability of blindness. We had a great slogan in the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind that we provide people with independent mobility but with dignity. The dignity is the really important thing. We all want to go about our business in our communities, to go to our church, to go to mass and to go to our doctor and to be active citizens in our community. A guide dog of course gives independence. A long cane also assists people with independence. We want to give people independent mobility and dignity and respect. We also want to put in place - I know the Minister of State is committed to all this - the necessary support services to allow people to get on in a meaningful way with as much independence as they can.

If one is blind, and in particular if one has had sight and has lost it, one needs additional supports. One needs people who can read one's personal mail. One needs people to guide one through various forms and to assist to have one's independence but also the dignity and respect that goes with independence, which is so critical for people who are blind. I am particularly focusing on that today, because Senator Conway has gone into greater detail about the particular issue of sight loss and visual impairment, which is really important.

Of course it makes sense to have eye clinic liaison officers across the health service and to have education about our eye care and our health care. More importantly, I am here today to look at two or three key issues, which are asked for in this motion, and I am going to single out a few asks. The motion calls on the Government to provide necessary funding for places for eye clinic liaison officers in all hospitals. I would like to hear the Minister of State's response to that.

The motion further calls on the Government to ensure all children who receive sight loss diagnosis have equal and fast access to care services, including mobility training and education. Of course the strand of education is so important for people with disabilities, as is access to employment and access to everywhere else.The motion refers to the funding models and the support for them. There is also the issue of emotional support and support for carers, families and loved ones who are visually impaired or blind people living in their homes. They too need help, care and support. It is a big ask. I thank the Fine Gael Senators for the motion. I do not want to be critical but I would fail if I did not scrutinise and ask some key, hard questions on it. I know that Senator Martin Conway would do likewise. I thank Senator Conway and acknowledge his enormous work in this area. Clearly, he has personal experience of it. The Senator is a strong advocate for visually impaired and blind people. He has worked extensively on this issue. I am aware of the Senator's track record with the National Council for the Blind Ireland, NCBI, and other organisations that advocate for people who are visually impaired.

I support every aspect of the motion but I have a query around how we could reduce those lists fast. How can we comply or seek to comply with the objectives of the motion, which is to deal faster with children in particular, and what will the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, tell us on that? The issue overlaps education and health, and a whole lot of other community services also. More importantly, how will we get the funding in place to see a dramatic reduction in the number of people who are queuing up? There are 43,000 patients waiting for treatment. It is unacceptable that 7,000 of our children are on such lists. This is on the watch and on the clock of the Government that brought about and set out an honourable challenge to address these issues. It is disappointing that insufficient progress has been made in this regard. I would like to hear from the Minister of State today how he is going to give comfort to the proposers of this motion with regard to resources and the necessary supports to make this happen.

I thank the Minister of State for his personal commitment in the disability sector. It is a specialist area. We have never found the Minister of State wanting in coming to talk to Senators. Honest and straight as he is, the Minister of State has told us what he can and cannot do, and he has explained the limitation on his office. I respect that he is an Independent Minister in the Government and that the Minister of State cannot always get it all his own way, but I look forward to his response.