Mr. John Sherwin:

The Deputy asked earlier about what effective intervention means. This is related to the answers my colleagues have been giving. Why is there poor access to third level? Obviously there are barriers with regard to interpreters. There are also confidence issues, as Ms Grehan said, which start from birth and language acquisition. We are saying that effective intervention starts at birth, with immediate access to Irish Sign Language. We are meeting the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science next week and we will talk about the importance of early intervention. For the purposes of this meeting, effective intervention is early intervention.

We were asked about the international context. There is not enough research on this. The research that is available for some things, such as the gap in employment for people with disabilities, shows that Ireland is one of the worst, if not the worst, in Europe. We do not have a great track record. We need to try to get past anecdotal evidence. In our strategic plan, we are calling for support for the costs of research. Much research is done in Ireland about the medical context but less about the cultural context.

When the Deputy asked about grading earlier, was he talking about grading Irish Sign Language or levels of deafness?