Sir, - I am writing to clarify what has to be a typographical error in Kathryn Holmquist's otherwise excellent article, "Signing up for a new deal" (Health, May 31st).
The error is contained in part of a quote attributed to me: the word teacher is placed in quotation marks, implying that deaf teachers who work in post-primary education are not fully qualified. Nothing could be further from the truth. Deaf teachers who work in this sector have the same qualifications as other post-primary teachers; in fact, they bring very particular additional skills and expertise to the education of deaf pupils.
I know that this error has hurt teachers whom I regard as valued friends and colleagues. I hope that this clarification will ensure that we continue to be so. - Yours, etc.,
Patrick McDonnell, St Joseph's School for Deaf Boys, Cabra; Equality Studies Centre, UCD.