Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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574. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide an update on the progress made to date in respect of implementing the recommendations specific to his Department outlined in the Report on the Operation of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017 to improve the functioning of the ISL Act; if he will provide an update on his plans to involve the deaf community in decision-making processes and the steps he will take to ensure that their perspectives are noted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22768/23]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Irish Sign Language Act 2017 was signed into law on 24 December 2017 and I commenced the Act jointly with my colleague the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman in December 2020.

The Act recognises the right of ISL users to use ISL as their native language, and to develop and preserve it. The Act places a statutory duty on all public bodies to provide ISL users with free interpretation when availing of or seeking to access statutory entitlements and services provided by or under statute. Implementing the Act requires a whole of government approach and as such all public bodies have obligations to fulfill. In addition, the Act also provides for specific duties and obligations in the areas of legal proceedings, educational provision and broadcasting.

Section 10 of the Act requires that a report on the operation of the Act be produced initially three years after enactment and every five years thereafter.

In line with these requirements, I commissioned the National Disability Authority (NDA) to produce the first report on the operation of the Act. A draft Report was submitted to me in 2021, and subsequently circulated to departments and agencies for observations and to ensure accuracy in the preparation of a final version. The Report was finalised by my Department in late 2021. To avoid prejudicing ongoing legal proceedings, the publication of the report was delayed in 2022. However the Report, along with an ISL translation, have were published on my Department's website in January 2023.

The Minister and I support the ISL Act and its importance in continuously advancing the UNCRPD in Ireland. We welcome the publication of the first Implementation Report and recognise the challenges outlined therein. A whole-of-government approach to the implementation of the ISL Act is necessary. My colleagues the Minister for Education and the Minister For Social Protection preside over actions in Section 5 and Section 9 assigned to their Departments. The Act puts obligations on all public bodies.

In this regard, the Department of Education continue to provide a range of supports for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, either in mainstream classes, special classes or through the two established schools for deaf children. There is longstanding existing provision in place, which provides a dedicated special needs assistant with ISL competency to support students in mainstream settings access to the curriculum and engage in school activities.

On 14th November 2022 a new enhanced scheme of ISL provision was announced. A national advertising campaign commenced in January 2023, by the NCSE, to recruited for the role of ISL-SCS on a nationwide basis. This campaign is currently at interview stage and it is expected that successful candidates will be appointed on the completion of this process.

The Irish Sign Language (ISL) Tuition Scheme provides funding for a weekly tuition service. Tutors visit the home of a deaf or hard of hearing pre-school child or school-going pupil to provide training in ISL for the child, their siblings, their grandparent(s) and parents or guardian.

A review of this scheme is currently taking place in the Department of Education with the view to streamlining the application process, and it is anticipated that the results of this review will be in place for August in line with new applications for the 2023/24 school year.

As Minister of State for Disability, I have engaged regularly with members of the deaf community through a number of important mechanisms. These include the Disability Stakeholder Group, the Disability Participation Consultation Network and the my Department's Disability Consultative Committee. I have also held bespoke meetings with representatives of the deaf community. Such engagements are important and I look forward to continuing to involve the deaf community in decision-making processes arising from these discussions.