Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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996. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on individual assessments for children with visual impairments; and whether visiting teachers could play a role in these assessments, similar to the model used in the UK where teachers have input on students' needs. [20590/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Education provides an extensive range of supports to assist pupils who are Blind or who have a Visual Impairment. The Department's policy, which is provided for under Section 2 of the Education of Persons with Special Needs Act 2004, aims to ensure that all children with special educational needs can access appropriate education interventions in mainstream settings where possible.

Many pupils who have visual impairment are in mainstream classes at primary and post-primary level with access to additional supports such as Special Education Teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNA) where required. Other children who have visual impairment may attend special schools or classes, for which lower pupil teacher ratios are provided. Schools are advised to provide the highest levels of additional teaching support to pupils with the highest levels of need, including pupils with severe levels of visual impairment

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with additional needs nationwide. The visiting teacher service for the visually impaired forms part of the NCSE support service for schools, and visiting teachers are now recruited, deployed and managed by the NCSE.

There are 16 fulltime equivalent posts for Visiting Teachers Blind/Visually Impaired operating across the country. The visiting teachers provide support to over 1360 pupils across the country. Roughly 100 of these pupils are in pre-school or at home.

There are 2 visiting teacher Associates who work on a part-time basis. These are retired VTBVIs who have a lot of experience and expertise. The Associate model enables NCSE to retain expertise that might be needed in specific areas at specific times.

Visiting teachers are qualified teachers with particular skills and knowledge of the development and education of children/young people with sight loss. They provide additional supports for such children, their families, and schools from the time of referral through to the end of post-primary education. Support for babies and young children is usually provided in the home in collaboration with the parents/guardians while older children are visited mainly at school. Visiting teachers will also discuss and demonstrate the management of assistive technologies for children who are blind/visually impaired.

The service aims to work in partnership with parents, schools and other professionals to ensure that all children and students:

• have equality of opportunity

• are fully included in the life of the school

• achieve in line with their potential

• develop their skills and work towards becoming independent learners

The visiting teachers adopt a child-centred, needs-based approach, engage in regular liaison and work collaboratively with all involved in the child’s education. They promote the inclusion of students in all aspects of school life, ensure that the student’s voice is heard, and support them to meet their potential.

Each visiting teacher is responsible for a particular region and is allocated a caseload of students. They support children/young people, parents, guardians, teachers and other professionals involved with the child. The frequency and nature of support takes into account a range of factors based on the individual’s needs. Schools contact their visiting teacher for support in using assistive technology to best effect. The visiting teacher will collaborate with the provider to offer the necessary training and technical supports to both students and teachers.

While class and subject teachers are responsible for assessing educational progress on a day to day basis in schools, visiting teachers contribute to this by:

• Advising school staff on:
  • the implications of the eye condition,
  • the identification of differentiated teaching and learning methods relevant to the student’s needs,
  • the adaption of learning materials in an appropriate medium,
  • supporting student’s independence and general well-being,
  • educational planning related to the student’s schoolwork.
• Conducting functional vision assessments in the school setting, as appropriate and providing advice arising from the assessment.
• Providing specialist tuition where appropriate (e.g., instruction in Braille, assistive technology etc).
• Identifying essential assistive technology, relevant to the vision impairment, in line with Department of Education policy, if and when appropriate.
• Organising textbooks in alternative formats, where appropriate through the Reading Services at ChildVision - www.childvision.ie/what-we-do/reading-services/.
• Supporting the transition to other schools / settings and providing a report at appropriate times.
• Supporting students and schools in applications for accommodations in State Examinations (RACE) or in their applications to further education (DARE).

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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997. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the actions being taken under child vision’s reading services to address incompatible formats of transcriptions of educational material, which are inhibiting learning from such transcripts. [20591/25]

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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998. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on the supply of age-appropriate books under child vision reading services in libraries in each county; and the actions being taken to ensure an appropriate supply of books for all age groups. [20592/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 997 and 998 together.

My Department has a service level agreement in place with the charity ChildVision since 2015 to produce braille books through their Reading Services area, formerly known as the National Braille Production Centre. Through this service level agreement, ChildVision is provided with an annual grant to provide transcription services for textbooks into Braille books in 2025.

Child Vision Reading Services facilitates the supply of textbooks in Braille (including BRF digital braille files), Large Print, Digital (EPUB/DAISY), Text-only (for use with braille displays and screen readers) and 3D Printed Objects. The service is demand-driven and free to all children with a registered visual impairment in the Republic of Ireland. It also supports a library service that includes a children’s library for leisure books in the above-mentioned formats and their own resource library with books and journals on visual impairment and multiple disabilities which is available to parents, teachers and other members of the community.

Childvision maintains a cooperation protocol with the Visiting Teacher Service of the National Council for Special Education’s (NCSE) Regional Support Service to optimise book orders and delivery timeframes. Childvision shall liaise with the Visiting Teacher Service, schools, parents/guardians and service users to optimise service delivery outputs. Childvision requires a lead in time for production of all alternative formats. Reading Services and the NCSE have an established guarantee protocol. This guarantee outlines specific dates in which orders need to be received and in turn, reading services guarantee to provide a specific amount of a book(s). Reading Services always strives to exceed these guarantees with the ultimate goal of having as much material delivered to students soon as possible, regardless of when the order is received. If parents have concerns about timelines or the quality of the material being supplied, they should contact their visiting teacher, who will engage with he service provider.

My Department also provides funding to Vision Ireland for the purposes of providing access for primary and post primary students to Bookshare Ireland, Ireland’s largest digital accessible library. Bookshare Ireland holds over 1.3 million titles in a variety of accessible formats and it is a free service which is available to all Vision Ireland Library members, specifically all students with print disabilities. The platform hosts over 1,000 primary and secondary school books from the school curriculum and thousands of books for 3rd level education.

My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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1000. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if children with a visual impairment can retain such specialised equipment such as Braille equipment and the Braille keyboard when leaving post primary school to ensure their continued learning. [20594/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Assistive Technology Scheme, as set out in my Department’s Circular 0010/2013, funding is provided to schools towards the cost of computers and specialist equipment, which are required for educational purposes.

All equipment provided under this scheme supports children with more complex disabilities who, in order to access the school curriculum, require essential specialist equipment.

It must be clear that the existing I.T. equipment in the school is insufficient to meet the child's needs. Where necessary, schools may also purchase new or additional equipment or software for students from normal school resources or funds.

The type of equipment provided under the Assistive Technology Scheme is varied, and includes audiological supports for students with hearing impairment, braille equipment for children with visual impairment, and computer equipment with associated modified software for students with physical or severe communicative disabilities.

Although equipment is sanctioned to support a particular pupil, the equipment is sanctioned to a school and will, as a general rule, remain the property of the school and be available for allocation to other or subsequent pupils with similar disabilities.

However, some of the equipment which is sanctioned is of a specialist and individualised nature and may not be suitable for other students in the school. In such circumstances it is not efficient that such equipment should be retained in a school, when the student for which the equipment was sanctioned transfers to a new school and would have to be re sanctioned for similar equipment in the new school, at considerable expense.

Should the pupil in respect of whom the technology is sanctioned change school, including proceeding to post primary school, the new school, or the school that was sanctioned the technology should consult with the SENO/Visiting Teacher with regard to its transfer with the pupil where it is still appropriate for the pupil’s assessed needs. This will ensure that there is no gap in support for the pupil and to enable the pupil to continue to use suitable and familiar resources in their new setting.

Retention of technology may be considered where the technology is out of date, it is no longer suitable to the needs of the transferring pupil or there is another child enrolled/enrolling and in respect of whom the school would be applying to the SENO for the same technology.

Where the school or the pupil has no further requirement for the equipment, the SENO, or visiting teacher in conjunction with the SENO, may allocate it to another school in the interests of meeting needs to the greatest extent possible.

The same principle should apply for pupils transitioning from post-primary to further education, provided the further education institute agrees to the equipment transfer and can put suitable provisions in place to ensure the equipment is utilised correctly.