NCBI Calls for Funding of Library Services to be Mainstreamed
Release Date: May 18th, 2010
Funding of library services for vision impaired people must be mainstreamed as part of our national library services – NCBI told an Oireachtas Committee today.
National Council for the Blind (NCBI) Chief Executive Officer Des Kenny told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government that despite the fact that NCBI’s library service is the only national library for blind people in Ireland, it only receives funding from the Health Service Executive (HSE) towards some staffing costs.
Public funding does not cover the costs of production of accessible books, or the purchase of any library stock. The maintenance of a central repository of specialist reading material would be more cost effective than attempting to replicate stock throughout the public library service.
As demand on the service grows, NCBI can no longer shoulder the costs of running our vital nationwide library service alone. The service has almost 5,000 active users and as the number of people living with vision impairment is increasing, this number is growing. The library must be recognised and funded appropriately by the Department of the Environment in the same way as public, national or specialist collection libraries.
Growing number with vision loss highlights need for Vision Strategy
NCBI said this and other issues highlight the need for an Irish Vision Strategy to plan properly for the medical, environmental and social needs of people who are vision impaired or blind.
The Vision Impaired Service Providers Alliance (VISPA) report Eyes on the Future predicted that the number of blind people in the Republic of Ireland aged 55 years and over is likely to increase by 170% between 2006 and 2031. The increase in the number of people who are vision impaired for the same period is estimated at 180%.
“Given these forecasts we urgently need the Ministers for Health and the Environment to support the development of an Irish Vision Strategy which plans appropriately for the future,” Des Kenny said.
Voting rights need to be delivered on
NCBI’s presentation also highlighted the need for accessible voting for those with vision loss. “One of the fundamental principles of democracy is the right to vote in secret in free and fair elections. Although the Constitution states that voting is done by secret ballot, people who are blind or vision impaired are being denied this right.
The current ‘trusted friend’ system, whereby a person who is blind or vision impaired is assisted in casting their vote by a sighted companion or a returning officer, is no longer appropriate nor acceptable, given the available alternatives.
Around the world tactile ballot templates are the most common used method to enable people with vision impairments to vote independently and in secret. These are cost effective and easy to implement.
The Department of the Environment should plan for and deliver the first confidential system of voting for blind and vision impaired people at the next General Election.
Shared spaces national standard needed
In the final part of its presentation NCBI also called on the Department of the Environment to take a lead in the development of national standards and guidelines for shared spaces in urban design which are inclusive of the needs of vision impaired people.
Shared space refers to traffic calming measures originally developed in the Netherlands, which create a street space that is shared by motorists, pedestrians and cyclists alike. However, the difficulty with this concept for people who are blind or vision impaired is that it places the emphasis on eye contact and person-to-person negotiation between those using the space to decide on right of way.
“In Ireland, no national shared space standards design protocol exists, particularly with regard to the needs of people who are vision impaired in using public space. For example in recent developments which took place in O’Connell Street in Dublin, the new Samuel Beckett bridge in Dublin and Patrick Street in Cork the designs had to be retrofitted to make them more accessible to pedestrians who are blind or vision impaired,” Mr. Kenny said.
Further Information
Ronan Cavanagh, Montague Communications: (01) 830 3116 or (086) 317 9731.
Read the full presentation paper made to the Oireachtas Committee.