Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 June 2021
880. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of the review by her Department of the functioning of the IRIS application; if she will consider keeping the on-demand element open on an interim basis whilst the review is completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31226/21]
View answerThe Citizens Information Board (CIB), a statutory body under the aegis of my Department, provides funding to The Sign Language Interpreting Service (SLIS) - the national service for the development, promotion and delivery of sign language interpreting services to the Deaf community in Ireland. The Remote Interpreting Application was a six-month pilot project developed by CIB and SLIS, and funded under the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s Innovation Fund 2020.
The Pilot commenced on 1st January 2021 and as planned, will end on 30th June 2021. The Deaf community and service providers have already been made aware of this by CIB and SLIS. The CIB has informed me that due to the procurement arrangements in place, it is not possible to continue to operate the Application on an interim basis during the review process, as requested by the Deputy.
CIB has also informed me that an external independent evaluation of the Pilot is currently underway and that CIB and SLIS will review the evaluation report and its recommendations in detail, in considering the continuation or mainstreaming of the Application.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
