Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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79. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to provide an update on the implementation of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017 (ISL) within his Department and its associated public bodies, including details of any ISL strategies that have been developed; and if no ISL strategy has been developed to date, the details of plans his Department has to address this gap in the near future. [17978/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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My department is committed to implementing the requirements of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017.

While my department does not provide direct public access to services or statutory entitlements, it is committed to providing interpretation in Irish Sign Language (ISL) where required. For example, ISL accessibility is prioritised at conferences and events hosted by my department. In 2024, six of the department’s conferences and events with external audiences featured an ISL interpreter.

In addition to the above, the department provides Irish Sign Language for any employees requiring it as requested.

Further information has been provided by the following bodies under my department’s aegis:

State Lab.

The State Laboratory is aware of the requirement to do all that’s reasonable to provide free ISL interpretation for ISL users that can’t hear or understand English or Irish, when they are seeking to avail of or access statutory entitlements or services provided by or under statute by that public body. As a non-public facing organisation, without a current staff need we do not have a dedicated service in place. Where a statutory requirement presents, the Laboratory may engage the services of an accredited person providing Irish Sign Language interpretation.

NSSO.

The NSSO continues to review its obligations under the Act. The NSSO provides HR, Payroll and Financial shared services to Civil and Public Servants including retirees rather than the general public. All of its services can be accessed via email or webpages.

Office of the Ombudsman.

The Office of the Ombudsman investigates complaints from members of the public who believe that they have been unfairly treated by certain providers of public services. In addition, under the Disability Act the Ombudsman has the powers to investigate complaints about Part 3 of that Act, including complaints about access to public buildings, services and information The Office is cognisant of its obligation under the Irish Sign Language Act. Anyone who wishes to bring their complaint to the Ombudsman, or correspond with the Office, and be provided with interpretation into Irish Sign Language will be facilitated by contacting the Access Officer of the Office or any member of staff.

As part of its ‘public sector duty’, and as part of Deaf Awareness Week, the Office recently organised a presentation from the Citizens Information Board to highlight issues facing the deaf community.

PAS.

The civil service, through publicjobs, welcome applications from a wide range of people, with differing backgrounds, skills and abilities. As part of the recruitment process, publicjobs encourage candidates with disabilities to tell them, early on, how they can be supported through the selection processes with any reasonable accommodations that they might need. Accommodations can be offered at any stage of the process, including at assessment and interview. Irish Sign Language (ISL) is one of many reasonable accommodations we can offer as part of our processes.

publicjobs recently created an internal multifunctional reasonable accommodation group to review the reasonable accommodation process. This group will assist with implementing a range of publicjobs specific recommendations from a recent report provided by “Tilting the Lens”. These recommendations are focused on the assignment and onboarding process and include areas relevant to understanding and improving services to candidates who require accommodations, including those who require ISL.

ISL interpreters have been at many events coordinated by publicjobs, for example ISL interpreters were used at our Dublin Castle ED&I client event in 2023, and at webinars we have arranged for Public Servants on the topic of Disability Awareness.

ESRI.

The ESRI currently broadly align to the implementation of the Irish Sign Language Act. The Institute have invested in training for a member of staff to undertake a QQI accredited ISL programme however we do not have a documented strategy in place.

Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery.

The ORNL provides very limited services within the meaning of the ISL Act 2017. The ORNL thus does not require an ISL strategy but has in place procedures to deal with the circumstances envisaged by the Act, should they arise.