Survey for public bodies and departments

This survey is to be completed by an appropriate staff member within your public body or department.

The closing date for responses is the 19 September 2025.

Notes on filling in the survey:

  • Please answer all questions.
  • This survey must be completed and submitted in one go as you cannot save and come back later.

Section 10 of the ISL Act 2017 provides for the preparation of a statutory report for the Minister on the operation of the Act, not later than 3 years after the date on which the Act was enacted and every 5 years thereafter.

The first Report on the Operation of the ISL Act was prepared by the NDA and published in 2023. A technical annex presents the key findings of the survey of government departments and other public bodies carried out for the first report.  

The Minister of Children, Disability and Equality has given responsibility for the preparation of the second report to the National Disability Authority (NDA) which will focus on progress “made since the previous report with regards the implementation of the ISL Act. Therefore, the NDA will use the findings from the 2021 report as the baseline in determining progress”.

The NDA is requesting you to complete a survey to facilitate reporting on the operation of the ISL Act.

What the Act says

The ISL Act is available online. Section 6 and 7 of the ISL Act places the following statutory responsibilities on public bodies:

Section 6: Duty of public bodies

  1. A public body shall do all that is reasonable to ensure that interpretation into Irish Sign Language is provided for a person who is competent in that language and cannot hear or understand English or Irish when that person is seeking to avail of or access statutory entitlements or services provided by or under statute by that public body.
  2. The provision of interpretation shall be at no cost to the person concerned.
  3. The Minister may by regulations—
    1. provide that where a person intends to avail of Irish Sign Language services provided by a public body, the person shall give the public body such prior notification of his or her intention within such period as specified in the regulations, or
    2. provide for the procedure in relation to the provision of such services by a public body.
  4. Provision of or availing of a remote, web-based service shall, if the Irish Sign Language user consents, be sufficient to meet the obligations of a public body under this section.

Section 7: Engagement of verified competent Irish Sign Language interpreters

A court or a public body, in compliance with its obligations under this Act, shall not engage the services of a person providing Irish Sign Language interpretation unless the person’s competence has been verified by having been accredited in accordance with an accreditation scheme funded by the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection.