Marie Moloney (Labour)

I welcome the extension of the JobBridge scheme to lone parents and those on disability allowance. I have been pursuing this with the Minister for some time and I am delighted it has come to fruition.

On my way home from Dublin on Thursday, I stopped at a service station and met four delightful young girls, Colleen, Caoimhe, Fiona and Ciara. These young girls told me they had just won the company of the year award at the national finals of Junior Achievement Company Programme. They will now go on to represent Ireland in the European finals in Bucharest in July. They formed a company called Sign4Life and developed an application for Irish sign language for the deaf and hard of hearing. It has opened doors for people to communicate with others.

As well as wishing these girls well in the European finals, we should have a debate in the House with the Minister for Education and Skills on Irish sign language, which is a language specifically for the deaf and hard of hearing, and for it to be put on the curriculum in order that it can be taught in schools. This would open many doors for the two children born deaf in Ireland each week, 90% of them born to hearing parents.