Irish Deaf Society

Lobbying Organisation Irish Deaf Society

Date published 04 Jan, 2018

Relevant Matter Legislation

Public Policy Area Justice and Equality

Period 1 Sep, 2017 to 31 Dec, 2017

Specific Details Irish Deaf Society along with Senator Mark Daly and Minister Finian McGrath continued to lobby to have Irish Sign Language (ISL) Bill to be passed in both houses of the Oireachtas

Intended results On 14th December the ISL Bill was passed at the Dail and the Seanad the following day, then the President of Ireland signed the bill into law on Christmas Eve.

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Senator Mark Daly

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) Yes

Current or Former Designated Public Official(s)

Mark Daly (Former DPO) Senator (Seanad)

Finian McGrath (Former DPO) Minister of State (Department of Justice and Equality)

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? Yes

What is the directive you gave to the grassroots campaigners? We contact our local deaf orginsations in Ireland and their local TD's and Senators to campaign for us.

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Mass communications

Email All Oireachtas Members IDS contacted all TD's and Senators to support our ISL Bill and to meet some of them face to face at the Oireachtas for several months.

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Meeting (6-10)

IDS organised several 'town hall' meetings with the deaf community all over Ireland via conference hall and live streaming videos.

Designated public officials lobbied

There were no DPOs directly lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area.