Results 21-40 of 1,133,739 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Áine Brady OR speaker:Áine Brady85 OR speaker:Richard Bruton OR speaker:Thomas Byrne OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:Denise Mitchell OR speaker:Áine Brady10 OR speaker:Malcolm Noonan OR speaker:Martin Kenny OR speaker:Roderic O'Gorman OR speaker:Matt Shanahan OR speaker:Ciarán Cannon OR speaker:Mary Lou McDonald OR speaker:Claire Kerrane OR speaker:Louise O'Reilly OR speaker:Fergus O'Dowd OR speaker:Áine Brady20 OR speaker:Peter Fitzpatrick OR speaker:Colm Burke OR speaker:Danny Healy-Rae OR speaker:Colm Brophy OR speaker:Alan Kelly OR speaker:Neasa Hourigan OR speaker:Dara Calleary OR speaker:Simon Harris OR speaker:Chris Andrews OR speaker:Pippa Hackett OR speaker:Charlie McConalogue OR speaker:Mark Ward OR speaker:Mick Barry OR speaker:Niamh Smyth OR speaker:Niall Collins OR speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett OR speaker:Mairead Farrell)

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: My overarching concern is that we build expectations whereby part of the system cannot be validated. For a child to go from early intervention, which is 12 months in some cases, up to the age of 25 or 26 or, God knows, if you do your PhD, into your 30s, it is assumed that all parts of the system would work together.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Are we building in choice for the benefit of the student or the view that the system might fail them at a later date?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: To clarify, Ms O'Dwyer would see summer provision as an opportunity for VI students. Most VI students are in mainstream education and, as described, are received supports from teachers and SNAs who are probably learning with the child what that child needs as with all disabilities but VI is very specific. Most SNAs will have only one child with VI throughout their career. If we can move it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Summer provision has become last minute as we do not know who wants to offer it or which employees want to take up the opportunity. Ms Healy indicated that ChildVision would be willing to undertake that kind of work.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Is the capacity there?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Regarding the pilot in Munster around orientation and mobility, why has that not been expanded? How long has it been in place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: I am sure everybody else in the country is quite jealous of that. Why has that not been expanded? Does Ms Walsh have any insight into that? I know Féach is not the Department but I am just wondering.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Am I correct in saying that when we talk about orientation and mobility, particularly for VI students who are not in the community, there is a belief that that is about learning to use a cane and walk around the town, when in fact it is about independence, particularly in school life? Much of that is down to the social side of things. Ms Agbona spoke of being sent to have lunch somewhere...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Does Ms Agbona want to say something about that? She described something that is probably a fear of many parents - that their child would not have access to the social side of school or be empowered. Most parents want to wrap their kids in cotton wool and it is easy to retreat home. Maybe we are not supporting people to move out into the world and make links.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: I suspect there is a huge cohort of visually impaired students who also have other challenges. They might have another diagnosis. They might, as Ms Agbona said, have a migrant parent who does not necessarily feel she will be heard if she goes to the school. There are all sorts of things because people's lives are complicated and complex. We should have a system that serves that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Mairead Farrell: I thank the witnesses for coming in front of the committee. I will follow on from Deputy Hourigan’s questions. Ms Agbona explained her experience regarding the lunch break, the social side and transition year. It is powerful to hear this. It is good that we are having this conversation and that it is on the record of the committee. I thank her for that. I will start with a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Mairead Farrell: Can Ms Agbona give an example of that? For people like me who are learning and for those who will look back at this meeting, it would be important to give an example of that stark difference. It is positive to hear this but it should be happening throughout a child or a teenager’s learning experience.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Mairead Farrell: That is powerful. Thank you.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Mairead Farrell: I am aware that we will have the Department in and I want to be able to ask the questions. We are saying it should be incorporated into support plans. Ms Walsh said that different schools do it differently. Should there be something like a circular from the Department indicating what is best practice?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Mairead Farrell: I want to talk about the technology and when it fails, but I wanted to ask another question. As a committee, we went to a school with children who are deaf. The kids would probably call themselves teenagers and they were all taller than me. One of the things that really stood out to me was how they described things like transition year work experience being very difficult. Dr. McCarthy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Mairead Farrell: Excellent.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Mairead Farrell: Will Ms O’Dwyer explain how exactly how that works for someone who does not know?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Mairead Farrell: Would anyone else like to come in on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Mairead Farrell: That is a really good point. I have another question. A friend told me how when she was transitioning from school to third level that there was a massive improvement to access to supports. Why is that? She said the figures qualifying under the DARE scheme had dropped while she was in college. Is that still happening? She found there was a huge difference between school and college. ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Mairead Farrell: That makes absolute sense. Looking at assistive technology, is there enough technical outreach or supports when technology fails? What happens when it does?