Access to information, services and buildings
NCBI sees it as a priority for information, services and buildings to be made accessible to people who are blind or vision impaired. This is also supported by legislation.
- Disability Act, 2005: Under the Disability Act, 2005 a public body must ensure that its buildings, information, services, websites, emails and online services are accessible to you. If these obligations are not met, you can make a complaint to the public body. If the outcome of your complaint is unsatisfactory, you can go to the Ombudsman.
- Equal Status Acts, 2000- 2004: The Equal Status Acts 2000-2004 also prohibits discrimination in the provision of goods and services and applies to private organisations and individuals as well as public bodies. If you feel that you have been discrimated against as a result of your vision impairment, you can make a claim of discrimination to the Workplace Relations Commission.
Passengers rights
European legislation has been put in place to ensure that everyone has the same possibilities to travel by air, train, boat, ferry, bus and coach. Transport companies are obliged to provide persons with disabilities with assistance with making a reservation, assistance during boarding and disembarking as well as on board – all free of charge. Assistance is provided on condition that the transport carrier, the ticket vendor or the tour operator from whom the ticket was purchased is notified of the person’s need for such assistance at least 48 hours before the assistance is required.
- Air travel: At Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports, a company called One Complete Solution (OCS) is in charge of providing assistance to passengers with reduced mobility.
- Rail travel: Read more about Irish Rail services for people with disabilities.
- Bus and coach travel: Read more about Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann services for people with disabilities.
- Boats and ferries: European regulation on the rights of passengers travelling by sea and inland waterway also includes provisions on assistance for people reduced mobility travelling on waterborne transport anywhere in the European Union. If you are travelling with a ferry company that travels to and from Ireland and you need assistance, you should give the ferry company as much notice as possible of your need for assistance so that they can put arrangements in place.
Voting
There are a number of facilities in place to assist people a vision impairment to exercise their voting rights. You can:
- Vote at an alternative polling station if the local station is inaccessible.
- Be assisted to vote at the polling station by a companion or the presiding officer.
- Vote by post.
- Vote at a hospital, nursing home or similar institution if you live there.
For more information on facilities for voters with disabilities, visit Citizens Information or contact the Franchise Section of the Department of the Environment on Tel: 01 888 2424.
More information
If you would like more information please call us on 01 8307033 or email: [email protected].