Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 736: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she proposes to provide recognition to Irish sign language within the national curriculum to support teaching and other learning aids and promote it as an accepted language for communication. [11600/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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There are no plans at present to include Irish sign language as a specific subject within the national curriculum in primary and post-primary schools in the Junior Certificate or established Leaving Certificate programmes. Irish Sign Language is one of the optional modules available within the Leaving Certificate Applied programme.

Irish sign language (ISL) has formal recognition in the Education Act 1998. Under that Act, it is a function of the Minister for Education and Science to ensure, subject to the provisions of the Act, that there is made available to each person resident in the State, including a person with a disability or who has other special educational needs, support services and a level and quality of education appropriate to meeting the needs and abilities of that person. This includes provision for students learning through ISL.

A number of initiatives which seek to promote, develop and implement ISL in order that it will achieve greater recognition and use in the education system are currently in place. These include:

the special schools for the deaf have been encouraged in relation to the use of sign language in class.

funding is available for training of teachers in ISL.

my Department has provided funding for an ISL weekly home tuition service whereby deaf tutors visit the homes of deaf pre-school children and deaf school-going pupils to provide training in ISL for deaf children and their siblings and parents.