Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will raise the matter with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. It is cross-departmental and does not belong exclusively to her. The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, should be concerned about it and I urge her to speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, as well and find out if this is happening in special schools. That is a key element of the Minister of State's portfolio and it is what I am hearing from schools.

This is International Week of Deaf People 2021. In a speech to the Irish Deaf Society yesterday, the Minister heralded the importance of making the educational experience enjoyable and inclusive for all children. However, there are deaf children in our country who cannot enjoy their education fully. One such child is 12-year-old Callum Geary from Cork, who attends St. Columba's unit for deaf children. Callum needs an Irish Sign Language, ISL, interpreter in his classroom to allow him access education. His family have been campaigning for this to be put in place, particularly under section 5 of the Irish Sign Language Act. It seems bizarre we expect teachers in Gaelscoileanna to have qualifications in Gaeilge, correctly so, but we expect teachers in special schools to learn ISL in their own time with very little support or criteria to be met. Will the Minister commit to resolving these issues and ensure deaf children like Callum receive the ISL interpreters they need to participate in education?

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