Ms Lianne Quigley:

I would like to talk about the example of the coronavirus when there were interpreters on television every day. During previous emergencies in Ireland, ISL interpreters were not present or provided and we had to advocate for them to be provided. It should be automatic that ISL interpreters are provided but previous to that there was a lot of advocacy on the part of the IDS to campaign and lobby for them to be provided. It should be the public sector's responsibility to provide those interpreters.

When it comes to children and deaf children in school, there is nothing mandatory in place for teachers of the deaf to have learned full ISL. It is encouraged but it is not a mandatory requirement. When it comes to political manifestos and information during election campaigns, as we mentioned previously, the IDS had to repeatedly ask for translation and ISL interpretation. It is not automatically provided. Hopefully there will be greater awareness in the future and continued ISL access will be provided.