Guide dog services to get €4.5m boost

CRUCIAL supports for the blind, visually impaired and children with autism are set to improve thanks to a multi-million revamp of a charity headquarters.

Health Minister Mary Harney will lay the foundation stone this afternoon for the €4.5 million redevelopment of the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind’s (IGDB) training centre on Cork’s Model Farm Road.

IGDB chief executive Pádraig Mallon said the buildings will mean significant improvements across its services. The 1,800 square metre project will see at least four new buildings. They will allow the charity, which will train about 140 dogs this year, to expand its guide dog training programme, and its assistance dogs programme, which provides specially trained dogs to the families of children with autism.