Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I listened to the Minister's comments about the entrenched views on the committee. However, would she accept that there is anger and frustration among the deaf community at her arbitrary decision to disband the committee? Was the committee asked to produce a majority report and minority report? I am informed that there were too many professionals on the committee, as opposed to people from the deaf or hard of hearing community and that the difficulty arose from this preponderance of professionals. I accept that there were two groups with opposed views; one favouring the oral tradition and the other favouring sign language. Did the Minister attempt to get the two bodies of opinion on the committee to produce a majority report and a minority report in order for the committee to finalise its report? One can argue that enough time was given to the committee but the decision to disband it appeared to be arbitrary to many people. Has the Minister reached a decision with regard to Irish sign language? Will Irish sign language be promoted and supported or will the oral tradition be favoured?

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