A language with its own law
Irish Sign Language (ISL) is the sign language used by the Deaf community in the Republic of Ireland. It is a separate language from British Sign Language, which is covered in Learning British Sign Language: Signature Qualifications and What the BSL Act 2022 Actually Changed, and from Makaton, which is covered in Makaton or British Sign Language?. This article summarises sections 3, 5, 6 and 7 of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017 as published on the Irish Statute Book (as enacted), a press release from the Department of Children, Disability and Equality dated 23 December 2020, and the National Disability Authority (NDA) page on finding an ISL interpreter. It covers the Republic of Ireland only. The position of sign languages in Northern Ireland is outside its scope.
Recognition and commencement
The Act was signed into law on 24 December 2017, and the government press release says a commencement order brought it into operation on 23 December 2020. Section 3 records that the State recognises the right of ISL users to use ISL as their native language, and the corresponding duty on all public bodies to provide ISL users with free interpretation when they are availing of, or seeking to access, statutory entitlements and services. It also provides that the community of persons using ISL has the right to use, develop and preserve the language. The press release says the Act recognises ISL as a native language of the State, and quotes the minister as saying that roughly 50,000 people communicate in ISL daily, of whom about 5,000 are native Deaf signers.
What public bodies must do
Under section 6, a public body must do all that is reasonable to ensure that interpretation into ISL is provided for a person who is competent in the language and cannot hear or understand English or Irish, when that person is seeking statutory entitlements or services from that body. The interpretation must be at no cost to the person concerned. The minister may make regulations requiring prior notification by a person who intends to use ISL services, and a remote, web-based service is enough to meet the duty if the ISL user consents. The section says ministers may prescribe other bodies funded by the Oireachtas as public bodies.
Who can interpret
Section 7 says a court or public body, in complying with the Act, must not engage a person to provide ISL interpretation unless that person’s competence has been verified through an accreditation scheme funded by the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection. The NDA explains that the scheme meeting the criteria is the Register of Irish Sign Language Interpreters (RISLI), which has a public directory of registered interpreters holding verified, recognised qualifications and bound by a code of conduct.
The NDA lists three routes to an interpreter: freelance interpreters, interpreting agencies, and a referral agency, the Sign Language Interpreting Service (SLIS), which provides a free referral service funded by the Citizens Information Board. SLIS also runs a remote interpreting service, the Irish Remote Interpreting Service. The NDA adds that longer or more intense assignments may need two interpreters, that some assignments call for both a Deaf interpreter and a hearing interpreter, and that children should not be used to interpret for their parents in place of an interpreter.
Educational supports
Section 5 places duties on the Minister for Education. The minister is to establish a scheme of ISL classes for parents, siblings and grandparents of a deaf child, and for others in the role of guardian; a scheme of ISL support for children in recognised schools whose primary language is ISL; provision in higher education institutions for teacher training placements in ISL; and, where practicable, minimum qualifications for teachers of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. The 2020 press release describes what existed at the time: an ISL Tuition Scheme run by the Department of Education for children and their families, funding from the National Council for Special Education for teachers to undertake ISL courses, and a four-year Bachelor of Education (Irish Sign Language) pilot at Dublin City University for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, which began in September 2019. It also refers to continuing professional development delivered by Trinity College Dublin’s Centre for Deaf Studies. Those descriptions are dated December 2020, and the department is the source for current provision.
What this means for someone learning ISL
- The sections summarised here concern rights and services for ISL users and classes for families of deaf children. They do not mention classes for the general public.
- Someone learning ISL to work as an interpreter will find that public bodies and courts may engage only accredited interpreters, so accreditation under the state-funded scheme is the relevant benchmark.
- Parents, siblings and grandparents of a deaf child are the group the Act explicitly names for state-funded classes.
- Interpreting careers in the UK follow different routes, described in NRCPD Explained: What Actually Qualifies Someone to Interpret BSL Professionally.
Reporting and review
The press release notes that under section 10 of the Act the minister arranged for a report on the operation of the Act to be prepared in 2021, and says that commencement does not mean the work is complete. It also records that a company had been established to maintain the interpreter register and a quality assurance scheme requiring continuing professional development.
The bottom line
The Irish Sign Language Act 2017 recognises ISL as a native language of the State, requires public bodies to do what is reasonable to provide free interpretation for those who cannot hear or understand English or Irish, and restricts courts and public bodies to interpreters accredited under the state-funded scheme, which the NDA identifies as RISLI. For learners, the strongest state-backed provision named in the Act is for the families of deaf children, and anyone aiming to interpret professionally should look at accreditation rather than class attendance alone.
Sources
- Irish Statute Book, “Irish Sign Language Act 2017, section 3 (Recognition of Irish Sign Language)” (irishstatutebook.ie)
- Irish Statute Book, “Irish Sign Language Act 2017, section 5 (Educational supports for deaf children)” (irishstatutebook.ie)
- Irish Statute Book, “Irish Sign Language Act 2017, section 6 (Duty of public bodies)” (irishstatutebook.ie)
- Irish Statute Book, “Irish Sign Language Act 2017, section 7 (Engagement of verified competent Irish Sign Language interpreters)” (irishstatutebook.ie)
- Department of Children, Disability and Equality, “Minister Rabbitte announces commencement of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017” (23 December 2020) (gov.ie)
- National Disability Authority, “Finding an Irish Sign Language Interpreter” (nda.ie)