I also welcome Niamh to the Distinguished Visitors Gallery.

I welcome the decision by the credit unions to offer mortgages. We have been fighting for that for many years. Credit unions are community based and I have no doubt that they will do a wonderful job in serving the people and providing very good value for money. About ten or 12 years ago, when new lenders entered the money markets, it was welcomed with open arms. At the time there were about 15 places in Castlebar where people could get finance and I am sure it was the same for equivalent-sized towns throughout the country. However, then we had the financial crisis and the upheaval of the financial markets. Now we might only have about six places where people can get finance with the result that some of the main lenders have increased their prices and are not giving good value for money, which is affecting hard-pressed people trying to buy a home.

I welcome the decision by the credit unions and I hope they go from strength to strength. I hope they can take a big share of the 90% that is in play for the major banks at the moment. While a number of financial institutions, such as Ulster Bank, Irish Nationwide Building Society, Irish Permanent, ACC and KBC, have left the market, it is welcome that the credit unions are back. At some stage, the Leader might arrange a debate here as to who is in the market and what value is being provided by financial institutions to hard-pressed people who are trying to buy a house and get a mortgage.

I also welcome the news that credit unions will be allowed to offer mortgages. This is a significant development. It is very important for communities right across the country, including my community in Tipperary. Our own credit union in Clonmel will be celebrating 60 years in existence on 1 June. The Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, will be coming down for the occasion. She met stakeholders of the credit unions approximately two or three months ago. She had a really good engagement about the kind of work credit unions do. Being able to offer mortgages will allow them to expand on that work.

I ask the Leader for a debate with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on opportunities in the workforce for people with disabilities. I acknowledge my colleague, Senator Conway, who just raised this issue. We have been working together over the past number of weeks. We visited the National Learning Network in Tallaght, whose representatives outlined the opportunities for people with disabilities to go into the workforce. They say that more could be done. Earlier, the committee of which I am a member had a very interesting meeting with the National Council for the Blind of Ireland and the Open Doors Initiative about the sorts of schemes that need to be put in place. One simple measure they spoke about, which is particularly for people who are visually impaired, is the legal requirement for jobs that are advertised on publicjobs.ie and irishjobs.ie to be digitally visual. There should not be pop-up screens that will make it very difficult for someone who is visually impaired to view information. Those companies have not adhered to the legal requirements that are in place. There are approximately 600 other organisations and companies that advertise jobs but that make it very difficult for people with disabilities, especially those who are visually impaired, to access the information relating to those job opportunities.

We speak about the low numbers of people with disabilities in the workforce. Ireland ranks the lowest in Europe in this regard. Ireland's rate is 32%, which is lower than the average of over 50%. Our rank is particularly low when it comes to people who are visually impaired. If we cannot even give them the opportunity to see what jobs are available on their computers - it is a legal requirement for the companies to which I refer to do so - then we are not tackling the issue in the way that we should. I request a debate with the Minister on this matter.