Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleagues, Senators Ó Murchú and Byrne, for supporting the legislation, all the Members who spoke and the Minister of State for taking this debate and not reading the script she was given, which shows she has a huge understanding of the issue and does not have to be enlightened by the civil servants. This comes down to the fundamental issue of what is a republic and what it means to be a republican or a citizen of a republic, which basically entitles every citizen, regardless of the circumstances of his or her birth, to reach his or her full potential.

Members opposite have talked about the legislation being premature, putting the cart before the horse. What the Department of Justice, Equality and Defence seems to suggest is that once we have put everything that the deaf community needs by way of rights and access to Government services in place, we will put in place the legislation that will compel the Government to provide the services. A timeline is missing from all of this. Priorities come and go. Ministers champion causes, as the Minister of State has done on this issue, and other causes and issues take priority. In that case, the deaf community will be left with nobody in the Government to champion its cause, the Department will say it is not a priority and the community will have no remedy to go to the courts. The Minister of State is right that people went to court over the Disability Act 2005 and the Government had to act. Citizens got the rights in legislation to which they were entitled. The Minister of State pointed out that there is no requirement for an accident and emergency department to have an online interpreter on call. Legislation would do that. We are discussing it now and it may or may not happen.

Senator Barrett mentioned amendments. We would be delighted if amendments to this Bill were tabled. Senator Moran said that the Department says it will not allow for Irish Sign Language recognition. That is the officials telling the legislators what can and cannot happen, which, as we know, is a fundamental flaw in respect of the legislation. Senator Van Turnhout mentioned New Zealand and said that recognition is not enough, which is right. The Minister of State is working to make sure that the services are in place. I agree with the amendments that Senator Keane mentioned to widen the groupings. We would have no problem with amendments brought in by anybody. We welcome the motion that Senator Keane tabled at the session of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. We have, however, seen motions tabled but officials do not have to act on them, for example, those tabled by Senator Lemass in the 1980s, almost four decades ago. That is why legislation is so vital.