Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, on his appointment and wish him well. We do not intend that he will be in the job too long. I am sure he will do an excellent job. I also wish Deputy de Valera well on her impending retirement.

The community who care for the deaf are concerned that the system does not adequately provide for them. I accept some of what the Minister said in her reply. The education system is not embracing new technology to the extent it could. Such technology has the capacity to impact very positively on children who are deaf or hard of hearing. I share her concern over the different viewpoints on the committee, which may have led to some difficulty. We need to move beyond those difficulties for the sake of the children. Will the Minister consider setting student attainment targets and timeframes within which deaf children should reach milestones?

I appreciate that mainstreaming can be difficult in some areas. There is a view that children would do better if they had access to some other deaf pupils in the school. I know of some schools where deaf children are signing and the whole school embraces it. All children in the school are given the opportunity to participate in signing classes to allow them to communicate with deaf students. I know this is easier in small schools. Has the Minister considered establishing a centre for excellence for dealing with the issue, as proposed to the original committee, or does the issue fall under the remit of the National Council for Special Education?

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