Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I again pay tribute to Senator Mark Daly and those who have worked on the drafting of this legislation. I have no doubt many in the Visitors Gallery have worked closely with others in the preparation and drafting of the proposals before us.

We are 12 years on from the recognition of Irish Sign Language in the Six Counties and I take comfort from the fact that I believe the Minister of State would be of exactly same view as myself on this issue. It is to our shame that 12 years on we have yet to officially recognise one of our two indigenous languages on this island, while north of the Border this has been done. With all of the requirements entailed in the Good Friday Agreement, this failure to reach a point of equality of recognition of the needs and rights of sections of our society is an indictment of our political system and on successive Governments.

This is a motion on a report of the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality and all expressions of appreciation are due to all the members of that committee. We are a cohesive and hard-working body of Members of both Houses of the Oireachtas. We are industrious and intend to continue to so be. It is important to reflect on the Irish Deaf Society's key and critical points. I want to pay tribute to Eddie Redmond and all the team at the Irish Deaf Society. In its small publication, ten main reasons Irish Sign Language must be recognised by the State as a language of this country, it cites the number of people who use ISL on a daily basis. For these regular ISL users, it is an innate and an integral part of their personalities. ISL is the only natural and fully accessible language for deaf children. There is no national registry of ISL interpreters and ISL teachers and, furthermore, there are no accreditation or monitoring systems. ISL has been in use for centuries, as we have already reported. Service providers, such as Government bodies, are not legally obliged as matters stand to respect Irish Sign Language.

The motion calling on the Government to recognise ISL has been passed by more than 40 local authorities across this jurisdiction, which is an important point that has not yet been made. There is no automatic right for deaf people to have an ISL interpreter in the justice system. No deaf child can fully learn Irish Sign Language as not all allocated teachers are fluent or even qualified in the ISL. There is no access for deaf people to emergency or help line services in ISL, something that is hugely important.

I thank the Members who spoke, attended and our special visitors, the members of the deaf community and friends in the Visitors Gallery. I thank especially the interpreters who have been wonderful on this very exceptional and special occasion. I wish every success to our purpose.

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