Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following:" "Irish Sign Language” means the sign language used by the majority of the deaf community in the State;".

In addition to the substantive amendment before us, the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel has advised that a number of technical amendments need to be made to the Bill as passed by the Seanad. Amendment No. 1 involves the reinsertion of a concise definition of Irish sign language into the Bill. The Office of the Attorney General has advised me that this would be a useful inclusion in the Bill. Amendments Nos. 2 to 5, inclusive, 7 and 9 update the reference to the Companies Act and make typographical changes in sections 1, 2 and 5.

Amendments Nos. 6 and 14 move a regulation-making power adding new public bodies from section 2, which concerns definitions, to a substantive section, which is section 6. The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel advises that this is the proper approach to the creation of a regulation-making power rather than having it in a definition section.

Amendment No. 12 tightens up the wording of section 6(1) to ensure that all services provided by a public body are covered by the Bill. Amendment No. 13 is a technical recasting of section 6(3) which concerns the regulation of notification to be given by a user of Irish Sign Language seeking to avail of free interpretation services and ancillary matters. Amendment No. 16 is an internal reorganisation of section 9, which concerns review of the Act, essentially renumbering the various clauses that follow subsection (1). Amendment No. 17 changes the name of the Bill to the Irish Sign Language Act 2017 as a crisper and more user-friendly Short Title.

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