Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Senators, including the Sinn Féin Senators and Deputy Ó Caoláin, who is Chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality which subjected this issue to pre-legislative scrutiny. Following this pre-legislative scrutiny, the committee's report highlighted the fact that the members of the deaf community suffer from extreme marginalisation because of their inability to interact with State agencies for the most basic of issues regarding social welfare, housing and health. While the Bill is not perfect and does not address all the issues that confront the members of the deaf community, it will address the issue of access to the Rape Crisis Centre and other organisations. Members of the deaf community should not have to travel from Limerick, Kerry, Cork or anywhere else to Dublin to access the interpreting services. In a country that seeks equality we should, with the agreement of this House, be able to pass that legislation.

The Minister has agreed to look at the amendments and together we will, hopefully, get a Bill that is as near as possible to being perfect passed by the Dáil before the end of the year. I thank all colleagues for their support. I know Members have met people from the deaf community who have talked about the difficulty involved in accessing ordinary services that we take for granted. We all know that even accessing Members of the Oireachtas proves to be a challenge in terms of setting up meetings and having an interpreter. Who would pay for this interpreter? This is why the issue of the voucher scheme is so important to members of the deaf community. Hopefully, we will be able to get the Bill passed in September and sent to the Dáil.