Maura Hopkins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. Like my colleagues, I very much welcome the pupils and members of the Irish deaf community here today. Similarly, I thank Senator Mark Daly for having brought this Bill to the Chamber. It is an extremely important Bill for the current and future community of deaf people in Ireland. One person who wrote to me put it quite succinctly and clearly. She said it is about respect for one's language and the celebration of a minority in a majority world. It is a very important minority. We know there are about 5,000 people who use Irish Sign Language, and it is only right and proper that the needs of this group be met. Like previous speakers, I have received a lot of correspondence and many telephone calls on this issue, about which I have spoken to many people. One particular letter expressed very clearly how important it was that Irish Sign Language be recognised. The writer, a lady who has been deaf since the age of two years when she contracted meningitis, was kept in a mainstream school by her family where she struggled terribly to follow teachers and obtained poor leaving certificate examination results. She subsequently completed a post-leaving certificate course in Dublin, which she barely passed. Her letter describes how her self-esteem and self-confidence were shattered by her inability to achieve what she believed she could achieve. She later discovered the deaf community and started to learn Irish Sign Language. Ten years later she completed a course and successfully graduated with a degree in adult education and training. It took her 16 years after taking the leaving certificate examinations to get a degree because she did not have access to Irish Sign Language. The point she makes is that she faces a constant struggle to access health services, justice and information. She describes having to constantly ask, beg and fight for access to Irish Sign Language.

This is an important day. It is vital that we treat deaf people as equal citizens by recognising Irish Sign Language and empowering them to communicate and achieve all they can. I thank those members of the deaf community who have contacted Senators. They should keep their campaign going. I will vote in favour of the Bill and hope it will proceed through the Houses as quickly as possible. I also hope resources will be provided to ensure members of the deaf community have access to proper services and an ability to achieve the best they can. I thank the Minister of State for his attendance.