Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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119. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update on the implementation of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017 (ISL) within her Department and its associated public bodies, including details of any ISL strategies that have been developed; and if no ISL strategy has been developed to date, the details of plans her Department has to address this gap in the near future. [17971/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank the Deputy for the question and would like to advise the following:

Supporting the provision of appropriate education for children with additional needs is a key priority for the Department of Education. There is a longstanding existing provision in place to support children in mainstream settings where Irish Sign Language (ISL) is their primary language. The department sanctions an additional special needs assistant to schools, above their existing allocation, where a school is required to employ an individual with ISL proficiency to provide support. These dedicated special needs assistants will support the students in accessing the curriculum and the wider school community.

Building on this support, in March 2022 the details of a new scheme for the provision of Irish Sign Language (ISL) in-school support for students who are Deaf and whose primary means of communication is ISL was announced. The establishment of the new scheme follows the commencement of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017 on 23 December 2020. Section 5 of the Act outlines a number of requirements in relation to education including the establishment of this scheme.

Under the scheme, a package of dedicated specialist ISL supports, ISL Specialist Classroom Supports (SCS) and ISL Advisors, are allocated to relevant schools, so these students have a more inclusive school experience.

The scheme is being implemented on a phased basis to allow for examination of the learning from its initial phase and to implement improvements, if required, to subsequent phases. The focus of the first phase was on ensuring that the available skilled resources are identified and applied where they are needed the most.

A working group comprising the NCSE, NEPS,the Inspectorate and the Special Education Unit of the Department is currently undertaking the review of the first phase of the scheme in line with Circulars 069/2022 and 070/2022. The review of the Phase 1 is at an advanced stage, and it is anticipated the associated report will be available in Q2 of 2025.

The outcome of this review will facilitate discussions regarding the on-going development of the scheme, including future recruitment and resourcing.

My Department has in place an ISL Home Tuition scheme which support families of students who rely on ISL as required by Section 5(a) of the Act. The total cost of this ISL tuition scheme is in the region of €300,000 annually, with more than 200 children and their families being supported under the scheme with the assistance of approximately 80 tutors.

Currently, there are four modules on Irish Sign Language (ISL) available as part of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme. This course introduces students to ISL and aims to develop their expressive and receptive communication skills. The course also develops awareness and appreciation of the Irish deaf community and its culture.

The Department wishes to build on this provision and ensure that ISL is provided for throughout the curriculum at Primary and Post-Primary level. Action 5.3.9 ‘Develop a curriculum at primary and post-primary level for Irish Sign Language to support the learning of ISL and learning in other areas for ISL users’ is included in the Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy published in May 2024.

Since publication of the strategy, the Minister wrote to the National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NCCA) requesting them to begin work on the development of a curriculum in ISL. This direction reflects the Minister’s commitment to ensuring that there is a standard ISL pathway for learners, both as a first language and as an additional language, and a possibility of a qualification in ISL for students which can be used to access third level education.

The NCCA has undertaken research to gain insight into curricula for sign language across a range of education systems internationally. This includes initial research to identify jurisdictions that offer sign language as a (mainstream) curricular language, and at what phases of education (early childhood, primary, and/or lower and upper secondary) sign language is offered.

As is the case with other curricula, curriculum development will involve scoping the work, establishing a development group, widespread consultation with stakeholders and especially with ISL users. The development of a curriculum will always take a number of years, and it is expected that will be the case here for both the ISL curriculum and the examinations as it will be a signed language curriculum across both primary and post-primary, which will require a unique approach. The NCCA has recruited some staff with ISL expertise and initial work is underway.

The Department is keen to accommodate students who use ISL as a first language as best it can. Leaving Certificate (Established) students who use ISL as their first language have been offered the opportunity by the State Examinations Commission and the Department to undertake the ISL modules from the Leaving Certificate Applied and obtain an integrated set of Leaving Certificate results which will reflect their achievement in ISL alongside their Leaving Certificate results.

The information in respect of aegis bodies, within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my Department. Contact details for these bodies are set out in the attached document should the Deputy wish to contact them directly with this query.