Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. I wish to go back to early intervention. The witness said that compared to other countries, we were "middling". Does that mean some children get early intervention and others do not? What does "middling" mean? It is that everybody gets something but it is not great? Will he expand on that? It is estimated that there are about 5,000 deaf people in Ireland. Without proper data, how does any Government plan anything? Do the witnesses have suggestions on how best to collect that data? It is through the census or is there another mechanism? Mr. Sherwin mentioned proposals sent to the Department of Education. Will he expand on those? He mentioned a home tuition scheme. What is the opinion of the IDS on education? The witness spoke about deaf schools, of which there are three in Ireland, and how they give children the opportunity to learn ISL from an early age. From the perspective of the UNCRPD or that of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, inclusive education is mentioned a lot. Where does it sit with that? I was a teacher before I was Deputy. I taught some students who were hard of hearing in mainstream. As was said, the data shows that many of them do not progress to university if they are deaf or hard of hearing. We would have argued before that universities or places of further education need to be universally designed to accommodate everybody's educational needs, which does not seem to be happening.

Last week in my constituency, I spoke to a woman who is hard of hearing. She came in to talk to me about her nephew, who is also hard of hearing. He went to a mainstream school, went on to university and qualified in modern technologies to do with climate change and environmental issues. One would think there would be loads of jobs in that area. He had a job but had to give it up and is now on the disability allowance because he was answering phones, for example. It is possible that he did not inform his employer he was hard of hearing; I am not sure. I cannot say that until I talk to him. If he did, the employer had a responsibility to ensure they put in place whatever accommodations he needed. It is possible that he did not because there seems to still be a bit of stigma to admitting that you are hard of hearing. If he is willing, I will link him in with the IDS. He is a young man who needs support. His family are concerned about his well-being because he is highly qualified and should be in the workplace, but has taken the option of claiming the disability allowance. It is not good for anyone.

The witness spoke about the Department of Education not engaging with their organisation. I have submitted several questions about why people who qualify from the excellent course in Trinity College Dublin with a degree in ISL are not considered capable of qualifying as teachers. They may have ISL and another subject, but the Department says they need another subject on top of that - it does not recognise ISL as a subject. It should be a subject, not just on the leaving certificate applied course - it should also be a subject in secondary school. It should be deemed that ISL is a subject and they should be able to teach. I am told it is an issue for the Teaching Council and then I am told, no, it is an issue for curriculum development. You are sent around in rings. Is the IDS experiencing the same thing?