Debate contribution: Sign Language Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Danny Donnelly on 18 February 2025.

MLA: Mr Danny Donnelly
Party at the time: Alliance Party
Date: 18 February 2025
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Executive Committee Business
Heading: Sign Language Bill: Second Stage
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 4806693

Text

Like colleagues, I support the Sign Language Bill at its Second Stage and thank the Minister and his Department for the work that they have done to date in developing that vital legislation. As other Members have done, I congratulate the Minister on his demonstration of sign language knowledge at the start of the debate. As my Alliance colleagues who sit on the Committee for Communities outlined, there is more work to be done, and I look forward to seeing further development of the Bill through its Committee and Consideration Stages. I also welcome the progress of not only this Bill but other Bills, such as the Justice Bill and the Agriculture Bill, which passed their Second Stage at the end of last year. It is encouraging that we are fulfilling our roles as Members of the Legislative Assembly by debating and passing legislation, but I hope that this is the last time that the people of Northern Ireland have to wait until over halfway through a mandate before primary legislation reaches the Chamber. I will touch on a few points about the Bill. I welcome the inclusion of British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language and the fact that legal protections will be given to both. It is also important the Bill has a wide definition of "the deaf community" to ensure that it is not exclusionary and includes those who rely on sign language every day. Like others, I would appreciate the Minister's giving more detail on some of the new powers that are in the Bill. Like my colleague Kellie Armstrong, I would like to see more clarity on the prescribed organisations that are to be included in the regulations, and I would like to see guidance from the Minister's Department on how consultation with those organisations is included. Other Members mentioned the responsibility on his Department to report on the progress of the Bill's implementation, whether that will be five years from now or within a shorter time period. We discussed the specific challenges that face deaf people in Northern Ireland. There are specific problems, and those often depend on the severity of deafness. For example, 77% of deaf children attend mainstream schools, often receiving no support or acknowledgement of the specific challenges that they face. As has been acknowledged, there is a higher rate of mental health conditions among deaf children in Northern Ireland, with 21% reporting at least one condition compared with 12% of hearing children. The Bill is an important step in beginning to address those unacceptable inequalities, but I ask the Minister how the Bill fits within his departmental objectives and with the objectives of the disability strategy more broadly. I know that very knowledgeable and experienced organisations are meeting the Department about the disability strategy. I have met many of them myself. I would appreciate more detail on how the Bill will progress that strategy. The Bill recognises the specific challenges facing deaf people and how those are distinct from other disabilities. That recognition is essential as we go forward. I also raise the importance of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The UNCRPD highlights the need to ensure non-discrimination, accessibility and equality of opportunity for everyone, including deaf people. Article 2 of the UNCRPD defines language as including "spoken and signed languages". Article 8 requires states parties to raise awareness, throughout all aspects of society, of the issues and disadvantages facing people with disabilities. That must include deaf people. Some practical aspects of the UNCRPD with which the Bill must ensure compliance include equal access to justice, which is covered by article 13; living independently in the community, which is covered by article 19; equal right to education, which is covered by article 24; equal right to health, which is covered by article 25; and equal right to work and employment, which is covered by article 27. The UNCRPD is all-encompassing, as it should be, and the Bill must reflect those principles. The Minister and other Members may be aware that I hope to introduce a private Member's Bill that seeks to introduce a new "due regard" principle on public authorities in respect of the UNCRPD and its obligations. My Bill will be out for consultation until 11 March. Improving the lives of people with disabilities must be a top priority for all Members. The Bill represents an opportunity to reflect that by adopting the high standards of the UNCRPD. I ask the Minister to tell us in his winding-up remarks of the extent to which the UNCRPD was a consideration in the development of the Bill. If it was not a consideration, I ask that the Minister outline how he will take the opportunity over the next few months to incorporate those principles into the Bill. I take this opportunity to welcome the Bill, acknowledge the work of the Minister, his Department and the Committee to date, and I encourage him to take on board my suggestions and those of my party colleagues. Today, we are seeing how the Assembly should function and how it should always function. I look forward to the Assembly carrying out its key legislative and scrutiny roles on this and the many other Bills that are to come over the next two years.

885 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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