Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 October 2022
124. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide details concerning his engagement with disabled persons’ organisations concerning the Assisted Decision- Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022. [50332/22]
View answerThe Government is committed to the abolition of wardship and to replacing it with a more person-centred and rights-based functional capacity model. The enactment of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022 will allow for the commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (the 2015 Act) is a very important piece of legislation that changes the existing law on capacity from the status approach of the wardship system to a flexible functional approach, whereby capacity is assessed on an issue and time-specific basis.
It will abolish the wards of court system for adults by repealing the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act 1871. Adults currently in wardship will transition to the new decision-making support arrangements on a phased basis over 3 years from the date of commencement. The Decision Support Service (DSS) will operate the progressive provisions of the 2015 Act and will respond to the complex decision-making needs of people with capacity difficulties.
During the preparation of the General Scheme of the Bill careful attention was given to discourse and commentary on the 2015 Act, which has stretching back to the passage of that Act, and for which significant consultations were undertaken. In that regard it should be noted that the Amendment Bill is primarily by way of procedural improvement to the 2015 Act, in the main it does not represent significant policy change from the 2015 Act itself.
It should be also be noted that a consultation process took place at the beginning of the year on the codes of practice that will accompany the commencement of the Act, and that regular engagement between the Department and disability groups has take place in various fora. Whilst not a full consultation, updates and discussions on the progress of the legislation have taken place on a regular basis with members of the Disability Stakeholder Group (DSG) at my Department's Disability Consultative Committee (DCC) meetings and the full meetings of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group (NDISSG). Most recently, the legislation was discussed at my Department's DCC on 20th September and an update was provided at the NDISSG on 4th October. The DSG is a voluntary group that oversees implementation of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy and provides input to wider government disability policy. It is comprised of individuals and groups with experience of disability issues, whether lived experience, professional or academic expertise, advocacy or civil society experience, or as representatives of disabled person's organisations (DPOs). A high-level Steering Group comprising senior officials from my Department, the Department of Justice, the Department of Health, the Mental Health Commission, the Courts Service and the HSE, together with the Director of the DSS, has overseen the preparations for commencement of the Act and these officials have also engaged with various bodies in relation to Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act, many of whom have run their own engagement and consultation processes around the Act over the period of time since development of the 2015 Act.
