THE Irish Deaf Society (IDS) has described the present system whereby deaf people have to register with a private company to be able to make 999 emergency calls as “unacceptable”, and is a “serious risk” to deaf people.
Lianne Quigley, IDS chairperson, called on the Minister for Justice, Garda Commissioner, and the Department of Communications, to come together, “to urgently implement technology solutions that exist elsewhere in order to address this serious risk to deaf people’s safety”.
“This is a civil rights issue; all citizens should be able to contact the Gardaí in an emergency situation. In an age of sophisticated texting technology it beggars belief that this situation persists, and every day it is putting people’s lives in danger,” Ms Quigley said.
Deaf people were being forgotten by the rest of society “because they cannot send a simple text for an emergency”.
“In the UK, Ofcom forces all UK broadband and phone providers to offer a free, 24/7 video relay service for British Sign Language (BSL) users to contact the emergency services, via a dedicated mobile app and website. Why not here and why not now?”
Ms Quigley claimed the IDS has made several attempts in recent years “to engage with the Gardaí and the Department of Communications to resolve a longstanding problem” and that “deaf people are not been given equal access to emergency support”.
Ms Quigley said the Gardaí rely on an outsourced service for “emergency text messages” provided by BT, known as BT ECAS (Emergency Call answering service) “which is commissioned by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, from a private company (and) is only provided on the basis that a deaf person pre-registers their details in order to use it”.
“This is a violation of deaf people’s rights and equality and is unacceptable.”
“Can you imagine a situation where a hearing person finds themselves in a home invasion scenario and tries to call 999 or 112 and finds that it is not possible because they have not pre-registered?”
“Whatever about the current scandal with 20% of emergency calls not answered, if pre-registration was required for the wider population it would be an even bigger national scandal. So why is it acceptable for deaf people?”
Ms Quigley argued that “people do not prepare in that way for an emergency, but they need immediate and accessible ways to contact services if, and when, an emergency happens”.
Gardaí are currently investigating thousands of cancelled domestic violence 999 calls as well as other so-called “priority one” calls. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has apologised to those impacted by the cancelled calls.
The department of justice, department of communications, and Garda headquarters have been contacted for comment.
