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

It is a compliment.

I do not agree with the comments of Senator Dolan in relation to doom and gloom. There is much to do but we are doing a lot of work and keep harping on about it. We will get on with it. The Taoiseach's Department is very involved and it is very important that we keep that focus on it.

Senator O'Reilly mentioned a number of important matters such as employment figures and their distortion. We will discuss that on Friday at the group. There are concerns and I also have fears in that regard. I will tackle that head-on on Friday because there are serious questions in that regard. We are talking about new jobs and the employment of persons with disabilities and not positions where people are out sick. The Senator also mentioned the issue of speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and so on. When I had my first meeting a few weeks ago with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, therapies, emergency cases, emergency residential care and so on were on my list. I am pushing those issues. The Senator mentioned the issue of third level. It is very important that is developed. Trinity College Dublin is developing fantastic education programmes for young people with disabilities. I have been to Trinity College on several occasions over the past 12 months, meeting the students. I attended a very interesting conference there last week which involved 150 young people with disabilities attending courses. There are also radical new arts programmes for people with disabilities.

I thank Senator Mark Daly and other Senators for their support on Irish Sign Language. We are near the end of the process in that regard. It is very important that we ensure it is moved forward. There was a delay in regard to some of the talks but Senator Mark Daly and Department officials have worked very hard over the summer and an agreed suite of amendments is to be presented on Report Stage so the Bill can be signed into law by the President before the end of the year. That has taken a lot of work, is very valuable and will make a difference to the deaf community. The issue was also raised by Senator Conway. It also meets the spirit of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It is important that is said.

Did I leave out any Senators?