Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the justice committee for bringing this report to the Dáil. It has been a very important debate. We have had this debate previously, but this time we have the legislation which Senator Mark Daly brought to the Seanad a number of months ago, which is very important and must be worked on. I would like to hear the Minister of State when summing up state he will support recognition of Irish Sign Language and that it should be legislated for.

I do not want to repeat what has been said, but earlier I imagined someone suddenly being dropped into Russia, China or Japan without the language and with no access to the English language or anyone who could speak it, looking for a language school to try to learn the language but not being able to find one. The person would be absolutely isolated. This is where people who are deaf have been. They have been in a dark area where they cannot break out. They are not recognised by society. This is a terrible indictment on us in the Chamber for not dealing with this much quicker.

I know that 40 local authorities have recognised Irish Sign Language. Service providers such as Government bodies are not legally obliged to respect Irish Sign Language. They translate information into English and Irish but rarely into Irish Sign Language, although their websites have other language translations such as Chinese, Polish, Romanian and other languages. We have a minority of people who use a language and who determine their lives by this language and we do not recognise it, facilitate it or put into legal means a way to access it.

I am delighted to be able to speak this evening to support the community and welcome everybody here, including those in the Gallery and the interpreters. It has been an eye-opener to watch the interpreters speak. I hope the Minister of State brings this through the legislative process in a positive way and makes the community feel strong.

As Deputy Connolly stated earlier, the three-year review is important. It is up to the Minister of State to go back to the deaf community, and the deaf community to come back to the Minister of State, to ensure what is in place is working and see what can be done to progress any issues where the deaf community finds resistance in any area of the State or other areas where they cannot access information and live.

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