Seanad debates

Wednesday, 9 October 2013

1:15 pm

Photo of John GilroyJohn Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the members of the deaf community and their advocates to the Visitors' Gallery. I also welcome the Minister of State. It is good to see her again.

I welcome the fact that the Government is accepting this good and worthy proposal. I must admit my knowledge of this subject is rather incomplete, but in the course of researching for the debate I was amazed by some of the information I uncovered. There are 40,000 users of Irish Sign Language. That is probably equivalent to the population of Dundalk, the home town of my colleague, Senator Moran. Imagine not recognising Dundalk. That puts it into context.

I also did not know that Irish Sign Language was unique. That uniqueness is recognised in the Good Friday Agreement and in the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. That is a significant step in moving the argument - slowly, of course - in the right direction. Apart from the vital aspect of Irish Sign Language being a communication tool, it is important to note its linguistic and cultural value. Culture and language are the essence of what we are as a people. That is very important. We should all strive to ensure that people are allowed and helped in every way possible to express themselves in their own language.

I welcome the fact that Senators Conway, Keane, Daly and Moran have brought this motion before the House. However, not only have the four Senators done that, they have also been very active on this issue in the two and a half years of this Seanad's term. The Seanad has a role in this regard and there is an obligation on it to do anything it can, both here and outside, to achieve progress in this area. It is vital that it does so.

Senator Daly outlined some of the difficulties faced by the deaf community without official recognition of Irish Sign Language. He is right to point out that our legislative and international obligations in this area are not what they should be. However, the Minister is quite correct. It has been said that we might be only paying lip service to this but if we were to ratify the convention without having the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill and other structures in place, we could then be legitimately accused of paying lip service to it. It is not a matter of speedy introduction but, more importantly, proper introduction. It is a matter of equality, decency and legality. I assure the deaf community and anybody who cares to listen to the Seanad debate - and sometimes not many do - that I, as Labour Party spokesperson on health, and the Labour Party are fully committed to promoting the full recognition of Irish Sign Language. It is in the programme for Government, which is also important.

I commend the Minister on her response. I do not think I have seen such a comprehensive response delivered in this Chamber by anybody. I welcome the fact that she will take a personal interest in this. The Minister is my constituency and party colleague and I know that when she says she will take an interest in something she certainly does so. The technological advances in this area are very exciting and there are exciting possibilities of further advances. Not surprisingly, the video was produced by the Revenue Commissioners to help people pay their tax. Perhaps we should ask them not to be so innovative in this area.

Everything I wanted to say has already been said, so it is unhelpful to repeat it. I reassure everybody that the Labour Party and I, as spokesperson, are fully committed to this. I commend the proposers of the motion and wish them well in their endeavours.

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