I wish to advise the Deputy that Irish Sign Language (ISL) has formal recognition in the Education Act, 1998. Under the 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 in Cabra (Dublin) 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 the deaf children/pupils, their siblings and parents.
my Department has sanctioned a pre-school for deaf children on a pilot basis.
my Department through the Higher Education Authority (HEA) has established and fully funds a Centre for Deaf Studies in Trinity College, Dublin which provides diploma courses for ISL/English interpreters, deaf tutors and in deaf studies. The course modules deal with issues such as sign linguistics, bilingualism and socio-linguistics of sign language. The course is delivered in seminar sessions/group work and the award of the diploma is based on continued assessment and a project and course design.