Wednesday 11th October 2023 – Budget 2024 has a number of short-term and other measures to ease the cost-of-living crisis on people who are blind or vision impaired, although the value of a number of those measures has decreased compared to last year which is less than ideal. NCBI also holds concerns about the wider needs of people who are blind or vision impaired especially around health service funding to reduce waiting lists.
Firstly, It is heartening to learn that people who are blind or vision impaired will be able to access the Free Travel Scheme (FTS) once they have been medically certified as being unable to drive because of their vision. This is a significant development as in previous years people who are vision impaired and whose sight affected their eligibility to drive were not deemed to have a significant enough disability to access the FTS. NCBI has been calling for the scheme to be available to everyone with sight loss for several years. NCBI extends a thank you to Senator Martin Conway for his support and campaigning on the need to extend the FTS to people who are blind or vision impaired and to Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys, for engaging with us on this issue.
Recent Census figures show that the number of people in Ireland who have experienced blindness or a vision impairment to any extent was 296,601. With huge ophthalmology waiting lists across the country, many of those people who are waiting for appointments risk serious deterioration of their sight which can lead to blindness that would otherwise be preventable with proper and early intervention. There appears to be a standstill in terms of health funding at a time when significant increases in funding were needed across the board to address the untenable situation around waiting lists and health service provision generally.
The cost of living and energy crisis continues to be an issue for people who are blind or vision impaired, so NCBI welcomes the three €150 energy credits, although they are less than last year’s €200 credits. Other measures like an increase of €12 in social welfare and pension payments and the one-off €400 payment for those on Disability Allowance are needed, although we know they are still not nearly enough to address the overall cost of living with a disability for someone who is blind or has a vision impairment which, according to the Cost of Disability Report 2021, is between €9,805 – €10,565 per annum.
Similarly, the cost of education can often be one of the many hindrances to people who are blind or vision impaired progressing into third level and then into employment. A cut in college fees of €1,000 is welcome. Providing free schoolbooks to students is a great idea, but this scheme needs to stretch to accessible and electronic school material for children who are blind or vision impaired, so NCBI will reserve judgement on this measure until more details are available. The introduction of a VAT exemption on audio books and e-books from January 2024 is also welcome.
Aaron Mullaniff, Chief Services Officer in NCBI said: “These reactions are NCBI’s initial takeaways from the Budget which was announced yesterday. NCBI will spend the coming days and weeks analysing Budget 2024 to properly assess its impact on the lives of people who are blind or vision impaired. Our initial reactions are, as they have been in previous years, that there is an element of short-termism to this budget, when organisations like NCBI are crying out for more targeted measures and increased funding to make sure that people who are blind or vision impaired are better off for the long term. Much of what was announced today was also just a restatement of commitments to previously announced measures across various sections of society instead of further financial commitments to those sectors, which is hugely disappointing.
“We need the correct, targeted funding to reduce waiting lists for ophthalmology services, we need increased funding for the likes of NCBI’s hugely successful ECLO programme in hospitals, our nationwide counselling and rehab services, we need proper measures to address the low levels of people with sight loss in education and employment.”
Budget measures and changes most relevant to people who are blind or vision impaired will be updated and available on the NCBI website’s Government Entitlements page in the coming days.