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

As there are three Members who wish to contribute and only four minutes in which to speak, I know the Acting Chairman will exercise a degree of leniency. I welcome the fact that the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Catherine Byrne, is here, but I really believe that the responsible Minister should be here in the first instance.

The Irish Deaf Society is the representative body of the deaf community in Ireland and provides services to 50,000 people across the deaf community annually. Every year it faces a struggle to secure core funding to support these necessary services.

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No State body will take responsibility for the provision of education and support services to vulnerable deaf people, who struggle to engage successfully with State and other services through the first language, English, which is a deaf person's second language. For them, the first language is Irish Sign Language.

Despite promises from the HSE in November, the Irish Deaf Society has no indication of when a final decision will be made. The IDS is now paralysed and unable to make key business decisions. The HSE and Government are fully aware of this situation and, more worryingly, of its implications.

I remember very well the recognition of Irish Sign Language as an official language of this State declared on the floor of this Chamber only one year ago. The Irish Sign Language academy, the adult literacy programme, the advocacy service and awareness-raising efforts are all now under threat of closure. The deaf community is planning protests while the IDS is currently planning for closure of much needed services and, more seriously, of the organisation itself. The IDS has this week decided to cancel all its classes from the end of February. This is the first operational decision it has had to make in acknowledgement of the society's serious lack of funds. As the next month approaches and proceeds, it will be more and more difficult to reverse these inevitable actions. This is a most pressing matter and I urge the Minister of State to ensure that funding is approved immediately.

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