Seanad debates

Wednesday, 13 November 2019

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

 

10:30 am

Photo of Martin ConwayMartin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will not go any further on that one.

On the Cuisle facility in Roscommon, I have no doubt that our colleagues down there are working hard to come up with a resolution. Three or four years ago, on behalf of the National Disability Authority, I had the privilege of launching a toolkit for tourism providers to make hotels, restaurants and guesthouses accessible to people with disabilities. Our objective should be to allow people to have choice, so that all tourism facilities, venues and accommodation are accessible to people with disabilities. People with disabilities would then have the choice as to where they go and spend their money.

Speaking of people with disabilities, it came to my attention last weekend that there is an issue for personal assistants, particularly those in organisations such as the Irish Wheelchair Association which employ personal assistants. When personal assistants use their own cars to transport clients, they are paid a token amount to cover their insurance costs. I understand this has become a problem and personal assistants are no longer encouraged to use their cars to assist the people with disabilities with whom they are working. Clarification is needed on this issue and perhaps the Minister will provide clarity in his own time. If something needs to be done to rectify the problem, it should be done.

I am still waiting to find out when 13 people will be accommodated in a facility on Achill Island for which we are paying at the moment. This matter cannot be allowed to die. The position is not good enough or acceptable. I have no doubt that the Department is doing its utmost to find a resolution but the clock is ticking. We have an accommodation crisis for people seeking asylum and this facility is not being used. We need clarity on this as soon as possible. I will be tabling a very important motion after the Order of Business. It relates to the appointment of eye clinic liaison officers to the hospital groups in order to provide advice to the growing number of people who lose their eyesight and have deteriorating eyesight and who do not know whether they are coming or going when they are obliged to face the challenges and difficulties that arise. The use of such liaison officers is being piloted in the Dublin eye hospitals and it is working exceptionally well. The people who are getting the step-down advice, receiving peer counselling and accessing the suite of supports that are offered by the National Council for the Blind, guide dogs and all the other organisations, are benefiting enormously from it. I want to see this service rolled out to the various hospital groups, particularly those that are dealing with sight loss issues. I would encourage those here to come along to the debate because it is important. Members of our ageing population are suffering eyesight loss.

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