John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for allowing me to raise this important issue. Yesterday we learned that the national advocacy service of the Irish Deaf Society, IDS, has closed as a consequence of the refusal of funding from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. This cut brings to a halt 11 years of services for the deaf population, with an estimated 5,000 people affected. Those people have been left high and dry by the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan.

I am absolutely shocked, as we all are, that the Minister has completely withdrawn funding with immediate effect from such a vulnerable group. The Irish Deaf Society's national advocacy service, which has closed its offices with a full loss of staff, provided an invaluable service to deaf people, including helping them to access education and health care and offering avenues to employment. To take this service away from those who need it is appalling and seems to have been done without any thought as to the consequences. It is very doubtful that the Minister can justify his decision, but he has not even attempted to do so. He must provide a full explanation to the staff and service users.

In some respects, of course, we should hardly be surprised by this move. This Government, after all, has engaged in a continuous attack on people with disabilities in recent years. Cuts to respite care grants, mobility allowance and the medical card debacle are examples of how the most vulnerable have been targeted. It is a Government that seems to have lost all sense of humility and any sense of caring for vulnerable people. The deaf population has been described by the IDS as marginalised, socially isolated and discriminated against, which can lead to low participation in third level education and poor job prospects. These people need to be protected and offered continued support in order to integrate more fully into society.

This ill-thought out move defies logic and I appeal to the Minister to reconsider it. The IDS's unique advocacy service is the only service that is fully accessible through Irish Sign Language, with all staff possessing fluency in the language. Many members will now find it difficult and frustrating to access public services where no Irish Sign Language interpreter is available. When one considers that 80% of deaf adults have literacy levels akin to those of eight to nine year olds, compared with 25% of the general population who are at that level, we clearly have a serious case of social exclusion with no means of remedy. The closure of this advocacy service compounds the decision made earlier this year by the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to rule out the prospect of Irish Sign Language being recognised as an official language. She did so on the basis that services for deaf people must be in place before the language could be recognised.

This is a disgraceful decision. The Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, is a caring Minister and I urge him to appeal to the Minister, Deputy Hogan, to have it reversed as a matter of urgency.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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I am grateful to have an opportunity to highlight an issue that is causing a great deal of concern, disquiet, and dismay among the deaf community. I am very much aware of the work done by Deaf Village Ireland in Cabra, in the constituency I represent, and the need for more engagement by organisations with the deaf community. It was very saddening to read of the decision for the funding to the Irish Deaf Society's national advocacy service to be cut with immediate effect. There was no lead-in to this decision, no analysis and no explanation as to why a service which has received funding in each of the 11 years it has been in operation should now have that funding removed. The advocacy service has been working with members of the deaf community on issues to do with employment, participation in education, access to health care and reducing social isolation.

This decision follows the decision by the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, not to grant official language status to Irish Sign Language. The IDS's advocacy service is the only service whose entire staff is proficient in that language. The Minister of State said her decision was based on the premise that services for deaf people needed to be provided before Irish Sign Language could be recognised. What is happening instead, however, is that an important service for deaf people has had its funding withdrawn. It makes no sense.

The Irish deaf community has felt very isolated in the past and has suffered a decline in living standards. The funding to the IDS was granted every year for the past 11 years. Why is it being withdrawn now?

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan. The funding scheme to support national organisations in the community and voluntary sector aims to provide multi-annual funding to national organisations towards core costs associated with the provision of services. The current funding scheme commenced in July 2011 and was due to expire in December 2013. The Minister extended it to the end of June 2014, however, with a view to a new scheme commencing from 1 July this year. The overall budget for 2014, under both the old and new scheme, is some €3.1 million.

During 2013, the Department carried out a review of the scheme, which found that it has fulfilled its main objective of providing multi-annual funding to national organisations towards core costs associated with the provision of services. The review recommended that organisations be required to demonstrate clearly the added value of the work proposed. The effective use of core funding in recipient organisations also requires that robust governance and cost control procedures are in place within those organisations.

The new scheme was advertised for applications earlier this year. The Minister has asked Pobal to undertake an assessment of the applications received, given that organisation's significant experience and expertise of both the design of assessment criteria and completion of assessment functions.

A large number of the applicant organisations sought the maximum level of funding available or, in some cases, an amount in excess of that. As a result, the number of organisations that could potentially be funded under the scheme, within the budget available, was significantly lower than for previous schemes. The Minister had concerns in regard to this and considered the issue carefully as he was anxious to make funding available to as many organisations as possible within the prevailing resource constraints. The Minister concluded his assessment of the situation, taking Pobal's assessment and recommendations into account, and announced the scheme allocations this week.

Some 157 applications were received by Pobal. Of these, three applications did not meet the basic eligibility criteria. The remaining 154 applications were appraised by Pobal against the criteria as outlined in the application guidance and 55 applications were approved for funding for the two-year period from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2016. The Irish Deaf Society is not one of the organisations approved for funding on this occasion.

Pobal has put in place a dedicated team to deal with any inquiries from applicants and to provide detailed feedback. There is also an appeals process and Pobal has provided applicants with detailed information on this process. As this appeals process is now live, it would not be appropriate for me to make any further comment on the funding process or to the application of any particular organisation.

John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply but it is the usual waffle from the Department and jargon from officials within it. As I said, this concerns 5,000 people and if one divides that into the 41 constituencies, one is talking about 100 people per constituency. Obviously, they are not important. They have no voice and the Minister has decided to cut their funding but now he says they have a right to appeal. Surely there should have been a lead-in time so that funding could have remained in situuntil the appeal was heard but instead the funding was cut straightaway.

The Government and the Minister should be ashamed of themselves that they would allow the withdrawal of funding from the deaf to go ahead. Why does this Government always go after the most vulnerable groups in our society - the old, people with disabilities, the sick and, in particular, the deaf community which has no voice? It is important the Minister of State reflects on this, goes back to his Department and discusses with the Minister, Deputy Hogan, the serious implications it will have for deaf people in the community. As Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan said, we have wonderful facilities in Dublin for the deaf and the blind. As the Minister of State will know, most rural people who suffer from blindness or deafness travel to Dublin to avail of the facilities. It is very important this decision is reversed and that the funding is made available as quickly as possible to allow this advocacy service to continue. It is the only service there for the deaf and it is important that this decision is reversed without any further delay.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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I refer to two points in the Minister of State's reply. He stated that the effective use of core funding also requires that robust governance and cost control procedures are in place. Is this suggesting that the Irish Deaf Society was not complying? This organisation received funding continually over 11 years. If there were issues, surely they would have been brought to its attention before now.

The other point is that the Minister of State stated that a large number of applicant organisations sought the maximum level of funding available or, in some cases, an amount in excess of the maximum funding available. How much thought went into looking at all of the organisations? If they are all looking for the maximum level of funding available or more than the maximum amount, why was the Irish Deaf Society's funding cut and why is it the organisation to suffer? The amount of funding it received was not massive. This funding is from a scheme to support national organisations in the community and voluntary sector. It is the only group dealing with the deaf community.

I have been in the deaf club, both in its old premises at the top of Clonliffe Road and in its new premises. It is a silent community. Deaf people can communicate with each other but the Irish Deaf Society gave them assistance to help communicate with other people. I hope those issues are taken into account when it comes to the appeal.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I will ensure the Minister, Deputy Hogan, is briefed on the points raised. As was acknowledged, he cannot be here to reply to this issue. The decisions on proposals for funding under the scheme take into account considerations such as the social and economic benefits, consistency with current policies and long-term vision. As I said earlier, the decision-making process in this case took into account the outcome of a process under which all applications were assessed by Pobal. For those applicants which were unsuccessful in the decisions made, there is a process through which those applicants can get direct feedback from Pobal. There is an appeals process, to which I already referred, of which applicants can avail should they wish to do so. I urge the Irish Deaf Society to make contact with Pobal in regard to its application and to get total clarity on all of these issues involved. That is the most important thing, given what the Deputies said.

I will not respond to the political points made because it is more important that everybody knows the facts and that whatever needs to be done to get all of those facts is done to see what can happen.

John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I was criticising the Minister, Deputy Hogan, and not the Minister of State.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I accept that, but I was just making the point that we all want to ensure that there is adequate funding for all our voluntary organisations. That is what we are all about.