I refer the Deputy to my response to Question No. 221 of 17 October 2012 in which I said the following:
"The Programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce a Bill that is in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Bill is at an advanced stage of drafting. Work is ongoing to properly align the provisions of the Bill with the principles contained in the UN Convention on supporting people with impaired capacity in making decisions and exercising their basic rights. I envisage that the title of the Bill will reflect this approach.
The Bill proposes replacement of the Wards of Court system with a modern statutory framework to support persons with impaired decision-making ability. The Wards of Court system is regarded as unsuited to modern conditions and incapable of coping with projected demographic growth and increased need for the management of the affairs of persons who lack capacity. The terminology and concepts used in the existing legislation of 1871 are regarded as inappropriate to the modern understanding of mental illness and legal capacity.
The enactment of new legislation is one of the core elements of the remaining work to be completed to enable ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and work on the Bill is ongoing."
The main proposals under development in the Bill are to:
- provide a legal framework to support persons with impaired decision-making capacity to manage their personal welfare and property and financial affairs
- change existing law from the current all or nothing status approach to a functional one, whereby decision-making capacity is assessed on an issue- and time-specific basis
- provide that the Circuit Court will have jurisdiction to deal with determinations of capacity and to make orders consequent on such declarations, including the appointment of suitable persons authorised to take decisions on specified matters in support of the person lacking capacity
- provide, in circumstances where it is not possible for a person to exercise their capacity even with support, that another person appointed by the Court may act as their representative
- clarify the law for carers who take on responsibility for persons who lack capacity
- establish an Office of Public Guardian, with supervisory powers to protect vulnerable persons
- subsume into the Bill the provisions in the Powers of Attorney Act 1996 on enduring powers in order to bring them into line with the general principles and safeguards in the Bill.
As matters stand, there is no charge or court fee payable for an application to allow a ward of court travel outside the State. When a person is made a ward, the Court is vested with jurisdiction over all matters relating to the person and their estate. Because the Court has full jurisdiction and responsibility for the affairs of a ward of court, the consent of the Court is needed to bring the ward outside the jurisdiction. In practice, this is done by application made by the committee of the ward (who is usually a family member of the ward) to the Office of the Wards of Court.
Only in the most exceptional circumstances - for example in an application to allow a ward to travel outside the State for a form of medical treatment that would not be performed in Ireland - would such an application be required to be brought before the President of the High Court or other Judge assigned to wardship matters. There is no fee payable for such an application but there might be legal costs involved as is the case in any court proceedings.
