Monthly Archives: January 2014

January 22, 2014 · 12:35 pm

Today the Seanad will vote on ‘The Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2013’.

This bill will ensure equal rights for the deaf community in Ireland and will guarantee that the government no longer continues to breach the Good Friday Agreement.

The main provisions of the bill are:

* require public bodies and government departments to implement action plans for ISL

* to permit the use of Irish Sign Language in Legal proceedings

* to provide for regulations of ISL interpreters

* to establish the Irish Sign Language council: to provide for the establishment of registers

Senator Daly said “As citizens, the members of the deaf community must be guaranteed the same rights and access to services as everyone else. Sadly that is not the case.”

Currently Members of the deaf community are not able to communicate with government agencies and the medical profession without encountering enormously difficulties.

“This bill will require all state bodies to put in place ISL interrupters as a right rather than the current ad hoc system” said Senator Daly.

The lack of recognition for Irish Sign Language ISL is a breach of the Good Friday Agreement. Under the agreement ISL was to be officially recognised by both the North and the South. While the Northern Assembly has put in place provisions for ISL the South has yet to officially recognise the language.

Senator Daly commented “amazingly 15 years after the Good Friday Agreement the current government and successive governments in the south have failed to deal with this issue which is also part of the Good Friday Agreement and failed to pass legislation that would allow for the deaf community to interact with the government and its agencies.”

Senator Mark Daly has been allowed by the Government to publish the bill and it will be debated in the house today. The bill will ensure that there is an accreditation process for Irish Sign Language interrupters. This would prevent a situation similar to the one which arose at Presidents Mandela Memorial in Johannesburg where an unqualified sign language interrupter, preformed the signing for the memorial service.

Senator Mark Daly was nominated by the Irish Deaf Society to run for Seanad Éireann in 2007 and 2011.

Daly demands greater focus on job creation in Kerry

New figures show Kerry were virtually ignored for IDA investment in 2013

Fianna Fáil Senator Mark Daly has demanded a much greater focus on job creation in Kerry after the county was ignored by the State’s job creation agency, the IDA, last year.

According to new figures received by Fianna Fáil, there were just 1 IDA site visit to Kerry last year and 2 in 2012.

Overall, 101 new jobs were created in IDA supported companies in Kerry last year, while 68 IDA jobs were lost so the net increase was just 33 jobs in the entire year.

“These figures reveal a disgracefully low level of interest in tackling the jobs crisis in Kerry. It clearly demonstrates that the county has been side-lined for jobs investment in the past two years,” said Senator Daly.

“The Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton and the IDA have serious questions to answer. The IDA had a total of 376 site visits in Dublin in 2012/2013, compared to Kerry’s 3 visit over those two years. Cork had 69 visits over the same period, while Limerick had 53 IDA visits Galway had 33.

“It is not good enough for the Jobs Minister and the IDA to only take an interest in jobs investment in city areas, while more rural counties continue to suffer. We hear much at the moment about economic recovery, but many people living in Kerry are struggling to see any benefits whatsoever. We still have a jobs crisis in this region, our small local businesses are still under severe pressure, we have seen our local services cut dramatically, families are still struggling to pay basic bills and many young people are still being forced to move away to find work.

“We have seen how IDA attention on a particular area can make a huge difference to job creation in that area.

“We need a much greater focus on job creation in Kerry, and my colleagues and I have called on the IDA to take a much better regional approach to their work. What we are seeing at the moment is a two-tier recovery, and Kerry is on the wrong side of it.”

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Filed under Active Citizenship

January 21, 2014 · 6:41 pm

Senator Mark Daly Welcomes Re- Opening of Vatican Embassy

Kerry Senator Mark Daly has welcomed the Government’s u-turn on the Irish Embassy in the Vatican City.

Senator Daly commented, “The reasons given by the Government for closing the embassy were completely flawed and it was a mistake. When the embassy was first closed we pointed out the diplomatic value of having representation at the Holy See and the networking influence it gave us. “

“This Government closed the Vatican Embassy when they thought it would be popular and now they are re-opening it when they think it might be popular.

Senator Daly, the party’s Spokesperson for the Irish Overseas and Diaspora noted “It is very important that we have as a country have a complete network of Embassy’s and consulates throughout the world and I truly hope the government has learned from this mistake.”

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Filed under Foreign Affairs, the Irish Overseas and Diaspora

January 21, 2014 · 9:43 am

Fianna Fail Cumann Meetings

Last night I attended the Fianna Fail Cumann meetings. They were held at 7pm in Bunavalla , 8pm Freddie’s bar Caherdaniel 9.30pm Castlecove Stauige Fort Hotel.