John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for allowing me to raise this important issue. Yesterday we learned that the national advocacy service of the Irish Deaf Society, IDS, has closed as a consequence of the refusal of funding from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. This cut brings to a halt 11 years of services for the deaf population, with an estimated 5,000 people affected. Those people have been left high and dry by the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan.

I am absolutely shocked, as we all are, that the Minister has completely withdrawn funding with immediate effect from such a vulnerable group. The Irish Deaf Society's national advocacy service, which has closed its offices with a full loss of staff, provided an invaluable service to deaf people, including helping them to access education and health care and offering avenues to employment. To take this service away from those who need it is appalling and seems to have been done without any thought as to the consequences. It is very doubtful that the Minister can justify his decision, but he has not even attempted to do so. He must provide a full explanation to the staff and service users.

In some respects, of course, we should hardly be surprised by this move. This Government, after all, has engaged in a continuous attack on people with disabilities in recent years. Cuts to respite care grants, mobility allowance and the medical card debacle are examples of how the most vulnerable have been targeted. It is a Government that seems to have lost all sense of humility and any sense of caring for vulnerable people. The deaf population has been described by the IDS as marginalised, socially isolated and discriminated against, which can lead to low participation in third level education and poor job prospects. These people need to be protected and offered continued support in order to integrate more fully into society.

This ill-thought out move defies logic and I appeal to the Minister to reconsider it. The IDS's unique advocacy service is the only service that is fully accessible through Irish Sign Language, with all staff possessing fluency in the language. Many members will now find it difficult and frustrating to access public services where no Irish Sign Language interpreter is available. When one considers that 80% of deaf adults have literacy levels akin to those of eight to nine year olds, compared with 25% of the general population who are at that level, we clearly have a serious case of social exclusion with no means of remedy. The closure of this advocacy service compounds the decision made earlier this year by the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to rule out the prospect of Irish Sign Language being recognised as an official language. She did so on the basis that services for deaf people must be in place before the language could be recognised.

This is a disgraceful decision. The Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, is a caring Minister and I urge him to appeal to the Minister, Deputy Hogan, to have it reversed as a matter of urgency.

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