Dáil Eireann rejects Irish Deaf Society request for Interpreter at Order of Business
A request made by the Irish Deaf Society (IDS) and Senator Mark Daly that an Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpreter is made available in Dáil Eireann for Taoiseach’s questions this Thursday has been refused.
The request was made to facilitate members from the Deaf community who will attend the public gallery this Thursday. The Senator wrote to the Ceann Comhairle on behalf of the IDS to request that an ISL interpreter would be in place when members from the Deaf community will attend proceedings, but the request was refused.
The Irish Deaf Society’s National Advocacy Service for Deaf people was forced to close its office with full loss of staff following an announcement by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government that its funding was to be discontinued. The announcement puts a halt to 11 years of services for the Deaf population of Ireland with an estimated 5,000 people affected.
Discussing the refusal, Senator Mark Daly said: “It’s an absolute disgrace that members of the Deaf community who will be attending Dáil proceedings this Thursday, which is their constitutional right, won’t be able to avail of interpretative services. It’s a double indignity following the cut in funding last week and it further highlights the disadvantage the Deaf community faces in accessing services which the rest of us take for granted. I would encourage the Ceann Comhairle to reconsider this injustice, and sanction an interpreter.”
IDS CEO Eddie Redmond said: “We have a number of people who are due to attend the Dáil order of business this Thursday. Our members find it frustrating to access public services where no ISL interpreter is available so we made the request through the appropriate channels. We are extremely upset and insulted that our request has been refused. We are supposed to be living in a democracy where the rights of all are equal, but what kind of message does it send out when our political services behave so callously. Following the cuts to our funding, we are seriously concerned for the welfare of our members, many of whom have come to depend on the advocacy service as the only viable service for them.”
ENDS
Contact:
Senator Mark Daly (who is nominated by the Irish Deaf Society to the Seanad ) is available for media interviews
Senator Mark Daly mark.daly@oireachtas.ie 0868032612 016183830
Irish Deaf Society: Eddie Redmond: Eddie@www.irishdeafsociety.ie 087 2345744 (text only) or 01 860 1878 Fergal Dunne: 087 619 6780