Mr. John Sherwin:

I have a few points to make in response to the Senator's questions. She mentioned the attitude of the general public to universal design and spaces. That could translate to mean culture change within Government organisations. One of the biggest culture changes needed is coming back to the idea of universal design and including that at the start of every single process. To offer an example from my experience today, and this is in no way a criticism of the Oireachtas, but I was struck by the circular nature of this room. When I started working with the Irish Deaf Society, I learned very quickly that theatre-style seating is no good because deaf people need to be able to see each other signing. Looking at someone's back does not work.

We have also noticed here today that both Ms Grehan and Ms Quigley have to stand up in order to be seen while they are signing. If universal design is included at the start of a design process for a room such as this one, the small physical barriers that do not affect me as a hearing person giving testimony would have been designed in a slightly different way.

In terms of the European Accessibility Act, we have some very good information from our partners the European Union of the Deaf. We would love to have the opportunity to share with the committee its research work on how that can the Act can be implemented. Perhaps that is something on which we can follow up afterwards.

There was also a question about barriers to the implementation of the ISL Act. The IDS is producing its own shadow report on the UNCRPD and we are including some information about the implementation of the ISL Act in that report. We would love to be able to send that on to the committee. The need for deaf awareness training throughout Government is key because that awareness leads to action. We would like to promote deaf awareness training throughout Government and the State provided by deaf people who give their first-hand experience and support to organisations that want to make their engagements more accessible.

Capacity is a huge barrier. The number of interpreters employed in Ireland is limited and it creates huge problems in timing. The number of people who are teaching ISL is also very limited. Until these professions become more supported and more viable we will continue to have a capacity challenge in responding to the needs of the Government as it tries to respond to the Irish Sign Language Act. There is a need for capacity building and a focus on it.