Miss-Delectable
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::: u.tv :::
With only eight interpreters for 5,000 deaf people using sign language there have been calls for a Government cash injection of £5 million setting up colleges in Belfast and Londonderry to train staff.
Irish President Mary McAleese is to attend a conference on the matter in Belfast today.
"In the worst case scenario if you have to go for an operation quite often people go through very severe operations without an interpreter and they don`t know what is happening," a spokeswoman for RNID said.
"You need someone who can communicate at the very highest level with the deaf person.
"People`s access to public services in any aspect of their lives is restricted."
Operations are one of the most frightening ordeals facing those without hearing.
There had been £12 million granted to the Irish and Ulster/Scots languages, which are optional and the RNID argued that trained helpers were a necessity for the deaf.
"We have looked at best practice in Scandinavia and they have a much higher ratio of interpretors," she added.
"We need 40 interpreters and 40 deaf tutors and we could deliver this over seven years for around £5 million."
President McAleese is expected to urge government, employers and educators to work together to improve the lives of 219,000 deaf and hard of hearing in Northern Ireland.
She will encourage affected people to take up their right to equal access to education, employment and democracy. They are often under-represented in the workforce.
There will be experts in mental health, human rights, law and business in the UK, Ireland and US.
RNID Northern Ireland Director Brian Symington said: "There is a lack of government investment to deliver local training courses for interpreters and tutors, two years after the languages were officially recognised in Northern Ireland by former Secretary of State Paul Murphy."
With only eight interpreters for 5,000 deaf people using sign language there have been calls for a Government cash injection of £5 million setting up colleges in Belfast and Londonderry to train staff.
Irish President Mary McAleese is to attend a conference on the matter in Belfast today.
"In the worst case scenario if you have to go for an operation quite often people go through very severe operations without an interpreter and they don`t know what is happening," a spokeswoman for RNID said.
"You need someone who can communicate at the very highest level with the deaf person.
"People`s access to public services in any aspect of their lives is restricted."
Operations are one of the most frightening ordeals facing those without hearing.
There had been £12 million granted to the Irish and Ulster/Scots languages, which are optional and the RNID argued that trained helpers were a necessity for the deaf.
"We have looked at best practice in Scandinavia and they have a much higher ratio of interpretors," she added.
"We need 40 interpreters and 40 deaf tutors and we could deliver this over seven years for around £5 million."
President McAleese is expected to urge government, employers and educators to work together to improve the lives of 219,000 deaf and hard of hearing in Northern Ireland.
She will encourage affected people to take up their right to equal access to education, employment and democracy. They are often under-represented in the workforce.
There will be experts in mental health, human rights, law and business in the UK, Ireland and US.
RNID Northern Ireland Director Brian Symington said: "There is a lack of government investment to deliver local training courses for interpreters and tutors, two years after the languages were officially recognised in Northern Ireland by former Secretary of State Paul Murphy."