Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn.

I thank the Senator for raising this issue as it gives me an opportunity to clarify the position on Irish sign language, ISL. First, I wish to clarify for the Senator that section 2 of the Official Languages Act 2003 states that "the official languages" of the State are the Irish language, being the national language and the first official language and the English language, being a second official language as specified in Article 8 of the Constitution.

Irish sign language has formal recognition in the Education Act, 1998. Under the Act, it is a function of the Minister for Education and Skills to ensure, subject to the provisions of the Act, that there is made available to each person resident in the State, including a person with a disability or who has other special educational needs, support services and a level and quality of education appropriate to meeting the needs and abilities of that person. This includes provision for students learning through ISL.

A number of initiatives which seek to promote, develop and implement ISL in order that it will achieve greater recognition and use in the education system are in place. These include funding for an ISL weekly home tuition service whereby deaf tutors visit the homes of deaf preschool children and deaf schoolgoing pupils to provide training in ISL for the deaf pupils, their siblings and parents.

Funding is also made available through the special education support service to enable individual teachers and whole school staff, including staff in special schools for the deaf, to undertake courses in Irish sign language which are available throughout the country through a variety of providers. In addition, the visiting teacher service for children and young people with a hearing impairment is provided by the Department of Education and Skills from the time of referral through to third level education. The visiting teacher service provides advice and support to ensure the needs of children and young people with hearing impairment are met. This service is available at preschool, primary and post-primary levels.

The Senator may be aware that assessment, rehabilitation and information services for children with a hearing impairment and their families are funded by the HSE, either directly or indirectly. Services provided include communication therapy and lip-reading classes as well as sign language classes.

The Department of Education and Skills, through the Higher Education Authority, HEA, has established and funds a centre for deaf studies in Trinity College, Dublin which provides diploma courses for ISL and English interpreters and deaf tutors in deaf studies. The course modules deal with issues such as sign linguistics, bilingualism and sociolinguistics of sign language. The course is delivered in seminar sessions and group work and the award of the diploma is based on continued assessment and a project and course design. The HEA has allocated €387,000 in core funding to the centre in the current academic year.

I wish to advise the Senator that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has commissioned an external high-level review of the issues surrounding deaf education. This review will focus on models of provision with reference to evidenced-based outcomes and the implications of adopting various approaches. I know the Minister for Education and Skills looks forward to receiving the policy advice from the NCSE in this regard.