Mr. Andrew Geary:

I thank the Deputy for his comments. Calum has fully qualified interpreters with him at all times in the classroom. Therefore, his needs are served in the same way as every other language in the State, be that Irish, French, German or whatever. The person who accompanies him into the classroom now has an honours degree in Irish Sign Language. This gives him the appropriate level of proficiency in the management of subjects so when Calum studies his maths, geography or history, he is getting the full lexicon. That is the difference, rather than him going in and dealing with brilliant teachers - and my son has had some brilliant ones - who unfortunately did not have the time to dedicate to him. They had to learn Irish Sign Language in their own time, at their own expense. Now, as some of the Department's own reports state, he is not learning through pidgin or the lingua franca. That is the difference.