Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will share my time with Deputies O'Loughlin and Browne.

Fianna Fáil is delighted to support, and to have initiated, the Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2016. This is a hugely significant day for the deaf community as this legislation will empower them by placing Irish Sign Language on a statutory footing. It is a massive advance for their civil and human rights. On enactment of the Bill, the State will recognise the right of Irish Sign Language users to use Irish Sign Language as their native language. Designating Irish Sign Language as a native language will empower the deaf community by permitting the language to be used in legal proceedings. It will also require the State to provide interpreting services for students who use Irish Sign Language. Importantly, it will also require public bodies to provide Irish Sign Language users with free interpretation when availing of or seeking access to statutory entitlements and services. This will make it easier for members of the deaf community to communicate with State institutions.

The Bill was originally put together by Senator Mark Daly, working with the Irish Deaf Society, including members of the deaf community, some of whom were from my native county of Cork. The Bill covers a wide range of topics, including recognition of Irish Sign Language and the rights of members of the deaf community. Three times my party colleague, Senator Mark Daly, introduced Irish Sign Language legislation in the Seanad and now, on the third attempt, he has succeeded. I commend his persistence. I also acknowledge the work of Ms Grace Coyle, who works with Senator Daly. She worked very hard on the Bill.

As I said, the Bill was drawn up in collaboration with the Irish Deaf Society, which has campaigned for more than 30 years for recognition of Irish Sign Language as a major aspect of equality for deaf people in Irish society. Irish Sign Language is the primary language of the deaf community in Ireland, and approximately 50,000 people communicate in the language. It is the native language of the deaf community, a visual language with its own unique grammar, and it is a language not only of the hands but also of the face and the body. Until now it has had no official status in Irish legislation, and it has been a crucial objective of the Irish Deaf Society to secure such recognition. This week this goal will be achieved.

I hope this legislation is just the start and not the end of this journey. I particularly hope that official recognition of the language will transform the lives of deaf people, especially deaf children. Before I was elected to this House, I worked as a special needs assistant, so I particularly welcome section 5 of the Bill, which provides for educational supports for deaf children. In this, as in so much else, early intervention is critical. There is no reason deaf children should not have the same educational outcomes as those of the rest of society, yet the proportion of deaf children who progress to higher education, for example, is half the proportion of the wider community. I hope this Bill will be able to address such issues. In the years ahead we must closely monitor and evaluate the progress of young deaf people and be prepared, if necessary, to come back here and improve this legislation. I ask the Minister of State to work on core funding for the Irish Deaf Society, which does Trojan work. I, too, am happy to commend the Bill to the House. I compliment the Minister of State on his work and I reiterate my congratulations to the Irish Deaf Society, many members of which are in the Gallery, and to Senator Mark Daly for making this happen.

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