Cork Deaf Association: State bodies failing deaf people

THE Cork Deaf Association has welcomed the belated publication of a damning report on the implementation of the Irish Sign Language Act.

The report, by the National Disability Authority (NDA), found that the over 50% of State bodies are either not aware of the Irish Sign Language Act, or are not aware of their responsibilities to Ireland’s deaf citizens under the Act.

The Irish Sign Language (ISL) Act 2017, which established ISL alongside Irish and English as an official language of Ireland, places a statutory duty on all public bodies to provide free interpretation of all statutory entitlements and services.

According to the report, commissioned by Minister of State for Disabilities Anne Rabbitte, the majority of public bodies (52%) indicated they were either not aware of the ISL Act (32%) or were not aware of their responsibilities under the Act (20%).

The report finds the ISL Act is “not operating as intended”, implementation is “poor across most sections”, “with many public bodies appearing unprepared for the activities needed to achieve compliance”.

Under the Act, an implementation report covering the three years following enactment is required, with subsequent implementation reports required every five years thereafter.

However, there was a delay in this report being published “due to a legal matter”, a situation described by Minister Rabbitte in the Dáil in October 2021 as “remissible”.

The report was eventually published this month, to minimal media notice, and its publication has been welcomed by the Cork Deaf Association (CDA), a charity part-funded by the Health Service Executive, which aims to support and empower the deaf and hard of hearing communities in Cork city and county.

“The Cork Deaf Association is relieved that the NDA Report on the Operation of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017 has finally been published,” CDA executive manager Gerrie O’Grady told The Echo.

“The ISL Act was a milestone in Irish history. However, among those of us living and working within the Deaf Community, there was an understanding that this was the beginning of a new chapter, not the fairytale ending of the story.

“We understood that this was the cue to begin serious work, yet for those in power, work on improving ISL access seems to have dropped far down their priority lists,” Ms O’Grady said. “Covid undoubtedly derailed progress, but this does not entirely account for the situation as it is now.”

Ms O’Grady quoted the report as saying “public feedback gave an overall impression that very little has changed since the ISL Act was introduced”, a perception of which she said the deaf community was well aware.

Describing the delay in publishing the report as “inexcusable”, Ms O’Grady said it was the very definition of adding insult to injury for a community described by the Oireachtas Justice and Equality Committee in 2016 as experiencing “extreme marginalisation”.

“Almost 10 years later, we are still in a situation where progress in areas like education can be described by the NDA as ‘slow’ with feedback indicating that ‘urgent action’ is required to enable children to have full access to education and opportunities and achieve their full potential,” she said.

“The report highlights a multitude of gaps, failures and confusion, including the fact that ISL users currently have almost no ability to fully access statutory entitlements and services through ISL resulting from the lack of information in ISL about these services’.

“There has been no evidence of urgency, not even in the way in which the NDA report was finally released, in a tone barely above a whisper.”

Ms O’Grady said different approaches were needed to address each section of the report.

“There are clearly huge amounts of work to be done in education, for example, and the Department of Education has to make this issue a number one priority,” she said.

Meaningful engagement on the implementation of the ISL Act was needed from all government departments, she said, with significant work required to increase awareness and provide clarity around the legal obligations of State bodies.

There would also need to be urgent action devoted to addressing the serious lack of accredited Sign Language interpreters.

Ms O’Grady said the NDA report should serve as an ISL national call to action.

“Public and private bodies should actively seek to learn how they can facilitate equal access and a more inclusive society,” she said.

“Organisations like CDA stand ready and willing to serve, support and advise. However, there needs to be a reality check about what is achievable within our limited resources.

“There needs to be significant investment in organisations like ours to support in achieving the recommendations set out in the report,” Ms O’Grady said.

“Our section 39 core funding does not factor in interpreter costs, which puts a huge strain on our budget.”

The CDA’s limited funding further prevents it from hiring extra staff to provide much-needed increased supports, she said, and organisations working within the deaf community should be prioritised for additional resources to support implementation of the Act.

“Minister Anne Rabbitte underlined her commitment to ensuring that ISL users are supported in accessing their statutory entitlements,” Ms O’Grady said.

“This is heartening, but the deaf community has heard a lot of heartening words and promises.

“There is, in most cases, tremendous goodwill but these serious issues will not be addressed by goodwill alone. Now is well past the time for action,” she said.

Deaf children begging State for help

Deaf children are literally begging the Government for help.

“All I need is a proper interpreter so I can have access to my education in primary and secondary school, then I will have a good future,” one deaf child told the NDA.

“I do not want to struggle and feel lost and not have a good job because I haven’t been able to learn. I really just need an interpreter, a full proper interpreter. Please, that’s all, please, please, please.”

Citing that child’s testimony, Ms O’Grady told The Echo the NDA’s report showed deaf children are “literally begging” the Government to afford them equal access to education and opportunities.

Ms O’Grady said the NDA report concluded that “access to services for ISL users has not increased greatly as a result of the ISL Act”, something to which she said the CDA could attest.

“In the Cork Deaf Association, we frequently witness incidents that echo those referenced in the report,” she said.

“Patients have communication worries on top of medical worries: children interpret for other children in the classroom and worry about their future; people try to access basic services through ISL and may be deterred by ill-informed or discourteous staff.”