Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this Bill this evening. I commend Senator Mark Daly and his colleagues in the Seanad on bringing this Bill forward. I welcome the Irish Deaf Society, whose members have come in large numbers. It is a great day for them and they deserve this moment.

I am happy to support this Bill, which gives legal recognition for its use in legal proceedings and requires the provision of interpretation into Irish Sign Language by public bodies, as well as providing for related matters. As it stands, Irish Sign Language has no official status in Irish legislation and a vital aim of the Irish Deaf Society is to get recognition and to uphold the status of ISL in Ireland, particularly in education where its acquisition as a first language by deaf children is vital. This Bill aims to grant that official recognition, which will benefit 5,000 deaf people in Ireland who use Irish Sign Language as their first language.

In general, approximately 40,000 people will communicate in ISL with their deaf family members and friends. It is important that our society does its best to integrate all people and communities, be they deaf, blind or other. The Bill is a vital way to do that. It is unfortunate it has taken as long as it has to get to where it is today. I see exactly what pain and suffering these people have experienced, which is very similar to what people who have cataracts suffer. Approximately 8,000 people, most of them elderly, have been left without a simple cataract procedure that can be carried out in this country. As I said on Leaders' Questions the other day, the State would rather see them go blind than resolve this issue. That is why there are buses leaving west Cork on Friday for Belfast to seek a solution. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, myself and our colleagues in the Rural Independent Group have done a great deal of work in that regard.

Irish Sign Language is the indigenous language of the deaf community in Ireland and it is different from the British and American sign languages. Ireland has it own unique language, culture and traditions which are recognised all over the world. As such, I cannot see how we could fail to give our own sign language the same recognition. Public bodies such as the HSE, educational institutions and the State broadcasters have a responsibility to provide for their deaf customers. To date, these customers have felt neglected where services have failed to meet their needs by providing a competent person to communicate through the medium of Irish Sign Language. Irish Sign Language should be taught in national schools to allow those with Down's syndrome, autism and other non-verbal children to communicate and feel accepted in our society as opposed to lost in their own worlds. In the USA, staff of McDonald's have learned sign language so that the deaf community would feel welcome and normal, as they are. How many stroke victims lose the ability to speak? If sign language were more widely taught in the community, locked-in syndrome for the victims of stroke would not be an issue. If sign language were taught, it would help doctors, hospitals and the wider community. If we can teach foreign languages to communicate with those of other nationalities, why can we not teach sign language to help our own? I ask Members to imagine being unable to hear or communicate for a day. It is a lot easier to learn when a child is young and learning feels natural.

Many children are deprived of access to sign language and risk never reaching their full potential. I know of a child in Cork who was discovered, soon after being born, not to have the vital auditory nerves which transmit sound information from the middle ear to the brain. It made him one of a handful of deaf children who cannot benefit from any kind of hearing aid technology. His family was met with a multitude of barriers but his father knew he was a bright boy and that as a family they needed to knock down the barriers to achieving his potential. The family switched their focus squarely to learning Irish Sign Language and their son was sent to a school 80 km away, which distance demonstrates, again, the other barriers that confront deaf people. The family did not give up on their son's right to achieve his potential. I hope the Government is in a position to accept this necessary legislation to progress the integration of the Irish deaf community in our society.

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