Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is a great honour to be able to speak in this historic debate. I understand this is the first occasion on which a Dáil debate has been interpreted for members of the deaf community. I welcome all the members of the deaf community who are in the Public Gallery. I know this is an issue of great importance to them and I want them to know that Fianna Fáil, every other party and every Independent Member of the House recognises the importance of their right to communicate and to do so through Irish Sign Language.

I commend the Chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality, Deputy Ó Caoláin, who has driven the issue forward since it was given to him at the beginning of the Dáil term and who has produced a report. It is fair to say that the Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality is the most productive committee in the House, and a number of us are present. Not only have we produced one report, we are in the process of producing another. I do not know how many reports other committees can claim to have produced so far.

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