Review of Sign Language Interpretation Services and Service ...

Pressure for the registration and regulation of interpreting services can also comefrom service providers. For example, in Scotland the judiciary and policedepartments fund interpreting for court and police work, and there is anagreement with SASLI on rates of pay and qualifications needed in order topractise as an interpreter in its domains. The Sheriff Court pays for specificinterpreter training in their domain, and was one of the first organisations tospecify that it would only use BSL/English Interpreters who are registered withSASLI. In England there is a National Agreement which stipulates that onlyMembers of the CACDP Register of BSL/English Interpreters should be used bythe police and courts.Evidence indicates that the cost of maintaining a register of sign languageinterpreters is much greater than the income generated from membership fees.Ancillary activities such as an agency function or the publication of directories ofinterpreters generally do not make up the deficit. In Scotland, SASLI's agencyfunction income supported the registration process. However, since SASLIdecided to withdraw its agency service, the Scottish Executive has had to provideinterim funding while the organisation identifies ways of generating other income.In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, CACDP subsidises registrationincluding the work of the Independent Registration Panel (IRP), but even withapproximately 360 registered interpreters paying fees and the sale of directorysubscriptions, there is still a need for other sources of funding to meet the costs.Central government funding to support the work of registration bodies, is morelikely where registration is mandatory. This review has been unable to identify acountry where there is a legal requirement for interpreters to register.5.5.4 The regulation of SLI agenciesAgencies employing salaried and freelance interpreters can have a great influenceon the quality of service offered to Deaf users and service providers. Often, theneed to meet service contracts with influential service providers can mean thatthere is a temptation to use unregistered and/or unqualified interpreters. Qualifiedinterpreters are more expensive to employ, and it can be difficult to unilaterallyuphold good practice in a business market when agencies are undercutting eachother by using unqualified workers. It therefore becomes imperative that there isregulation of the industry. This can be a top-down approach, for example, throughthe provision of government funds on condition that qualified and registeredinterpreters are used. Alternatively interpreters themselves can refuse to workwith unqualified people and Deaf people can refuse to be provided with anunqualified interpreter.In England CACDP used to register agencies. A system was set up in 1994 andthis was reviewed in 2002. It was found that although the majority (95%) of therespondents wanted to continue a system of registration for agencies, in practicethere was a low level of support from the agencies for even voluntary registration,and it proved impossible to police the system, given the lack of governmentsupport. However, there is currently work being done by agencies themselves toagree standards for their work and service delivery. Although the intention haspage 104 • Review of Sign Language Interpretation Services and Service Requirements in Ireland