Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Senator Mullen asked what were the issues on which I wanted consensus. For reasons that I have outlined, I wanted to hammer out agreement on a number of issues - the establishment of a scheme to provide for ISL classes, the provision by the State of an annual number of hours of interpretation services, the drafting by all public bodies of individual ISL action plans every three years, the establishment of a new body known as the Irish Sign Language Council, the establishment of a register of ISL teachers and the creation - this was a cause of major difficulty - of a new criminal offence to allow for the prosecution of a person who is not registered as an interpreter but who provides interpretation or teaching services for remuneration or reward.

I wanted to discuss the Bill's provisions with people. They were either unnecessary in legislation or onerous and took an inappropriate approach to the provision of services for users of ISL, and they should be deleted from the Bill. I want to sit down and discuss these issues.We agree with the principle of the Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2016. We agree with the resources, but I would like more consensus and support. I thought we could proceed in a more sensible and logical way. I want to ensure that when we bring the Bill to the Dáil, it is solid and also respects the rights of all people who are fighting for the Irish Sign Language issue.