Sight problems remain a barrier to finding a job

Despite current disability legislation, the employment market and society are failing people with sight loss according to statistics released by the Royal National Institute for the Blind in Northern Ireland (RNIB NI).

The survey found that around three-quarters of blind or partially sighted people who are of working age are unemployed and the prospect of them attaining a job is only slightly better than it was over 10 years ago.

RNIB NI Director Susan Reid has said, "This is a totally unacceptable level of unemployment and social exclusion. We are calling for increased opportunities for the estimated 3300 blind or partially sighted people in Northern Ireland."

The charity has called for changes such as a 'disability leave' scheme to be implemented and for the greater promotion of the Access to Work scheme which supports employers taking on disabled employees. The RNIB are also seeking means to improve attitudes among employers and positive moves to end to employment discrimination in the hope that with these changes in place the latest statistics will have improved.

Speaking ahead of the launch of RNIB's employment strategy on Thursday 7 March, Carmel Hanna, the Minister for Employment and Learning welcomed the initiative, stating that it "highlights many important issues that people with sight difficulties experience".

The Minister went on to describe the failure to employ people with serious sight difficulties as a "loss to the pool of human resources that employers need to develop the economy".

Susan Reid added that job retention was the RNIB's top priority and that employers, Government, the voluntary sector and the public need to work in partnership in addressing the issues that people with serious sight loss have to deal with today as no one organisation can do it all.

She said: "RNIB NI accepts its responsibility in this process and is calling on all parties to contribute to developing long-term solutions to ensure the next decade will yield a more equitable employment market open to all leading to an improved quality of life for all citizens in Northern Ireland."

It is estimated that in Northern Ireland there are some 4,400 blind or partially sighted people, of these three out of four are not in paid employment.

While one in four people with sight impairment would be prepared to work, only half of all employers are willing to consider employing someone who has "difficulty seeing".

(LS/SP)