Written answers
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Department of Education and Skills
Departmental Funding
Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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318. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide consideration to the needs of the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind which is in need of an additional €500,000 to protect essential services; the amount of funding the organisation is currently receiving from his Department; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that other peer organisations receive a much higher proportion of their funding on a statutory basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27888/13]
Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department provides annual funding of €68,886 to the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind (IGDB) for the provision of its Child Mobility Programme. This grant provides for the services of a Mobility Officer employed by the IGDB who provides mobility training to visually impaired children. Instruction is mostly on a one-to-one basis in a range of environments, including the school environment, until the child has reached a safe and efficient standard of mobility. The Mobility Officer also advises schools in relation to sourcing materials or specialist equipment for blind/visually impaired persons to lesson planning and providing advice to schools. I understand that the Department of Health also provides a very signficant level of funding to the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind.
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