Multiple Sclerosis Ireland

Lobbying Organisation Multiple Sclerosis Ireland

Date published 21 Jan, 2021

Relevant Matter Legislation

Public Policy Area Health

Period 1 Sep, 2020 to 31 Dec, 2020

Specific Details MS Ireland contacted Deputy Mark Ward in relation to the temporary suspension of Primary Medical Certificates as people living with MS were unable to obtain these certificates.

Intended results To have a a Parliamentary Question raised for clarification on the status of the issue and details of a timeframe in which people may expect this issue to be resolved and to call for swift action to have this issue addressed.

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Aoife Kirwan

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 Ward (Currently employed as a DPO) TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Phone call (1)

MS Ireland contacted Deputy Ward to express concern about the suspension of processing these certificates and to explain the impact this had on people who were in need of Primary Medical Certificates.

Email (2-5)

MS Ireland followed up the phone call with an email to Deputy Ward to provide him with written details of the issue which we had called him about. We asked Deputy Ward to raise this issue. We followed up by email a second time, to thank Deputy Ward for his support on the issue.

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Mark Ward TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Leo Varadkar An Tánaiste (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)