Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the members of the Irish deaf community, the interpreters and all those who have worked so hard and for so long on the Irish Sign Language recognition campaign who are present in the Visitors Gallery. I commend Senator Mark Daly for introducing the Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2016 which I welcome, with the report of the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality, in recognition of and out of respect for the basic right to communicate of the more than 5,000 members of the Irish deaf community. They are important steps we need to take as a country. In 2015, while I was a member of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, I tabled a motion that received unanimous support and which called on the Government to give recognition to Irish Sign Language. It is a privilege for me to stand in this House and welcome the report which seeks to make it a reality. Irish Sign Language gives thousands of Irish people the invaluable gift of communication. The deaf community feels isolated and cut off from access to information. The Irish Deaf Society has been campaigning for more than 30 years to have Irish Sign Language officially recognised so as to ensure equality for deaf people in society who simply want to secure their right to full participation as citizens.

It is essential that public bodies be required to provide the necessary interpretative services for deaf people. I welcome the measures that seek to do this which are included in the report and the Bill. Not even for one moment can I attempt to contemplate how frustrating it must be for a person who is deaf to have to engage with a public body. Simple acts of daily life that we take for granted such as contacting a local authority or departmental office become increasingly frustrating for those who are deaf because there is no one on the other side of the counter who can interpret or communicate with them.

The Irish Deaf Society has stated the failure to recognise Irish Sign Language places at risk the health and well-being of deaf people, as they often struggle to avail of vital health and educational services. Many public and private services taken for granted by others are inaccessible to deaf people. Availability of services and information in Irish Sign Language as guaranteed by law is the only means of ensuring deaf people will have the opportunity to access and participate fully in society. The Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2016 seeks to ensure members of the deaf community will be able to participate fully as citizens of the country by legally guaranteeing their right to access information in what is their first and, for many, only language. The Green Party-Comhaontas Glas is happy to support the Bill.

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