AQW 51457/22-27

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 09/09/2026
Answered On Date: 25/09/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities to detail when the recruitment and selection of persons and bodies as outlined in section 5, 3 (b) of the Sign Language Act (Northern Ireland) 2026 will progress.

Answer:

The Sign Language Partnership Group is a cross-departmental/Deaf sectoral forum, chaired by my department. Its current membership includes Deaf organisations and individuals who use and advocate for British Sign Language (BSL), Irish Sign Language (ISL) and Deaf culture. Its current membership includes:

Action Deaf Youth

Association of Sign Language Interpreters

British Deaf Association NI

Deaf Answers

Foyle Deaf Association

Hands That Talk

National Deaf Children’s Society

Northern Ireland Deaf Women’s Group

Royal National Institute for the Deaf

Sense NI

Visual Language Professionals

I am satisfied that there is sufficient representation within the Sign Language Partnership Group to satisfy the conditions laid out in section 5(3)(b), and my department does not intend to recruit or appoint specific, additional persons or bodies at this time.