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Assisted Decision Making

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 June 2018

Thursday, 21 June 2018

Ceisteanna (111)

Barry Cowen

Ceist:

111. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the €3 million allocated to assisted decision making as outlined in budget 2018; the amount that has been spent; the way in which the money has been spent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27249/18]

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Freagraí scríofa

The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 provides a modern statutory framework to support decision-making by adults with capacity difficulties. The Act was signed into law on 30 December 2015.

New administrative processes and support measures, including the setting up of the Decision Support Service within the Mental Health Commission (a body under the Department of Health), must be put in place before the substantive provisions of the Act can be commenced. A high-level Steering Group comprised of senior officials from the Department of Justice and Equality, the Department of Health, the Mental Health Commission and the Courts Service, together with the Director of the Decision Support Service, is overseeing the establishment and commissioning of the Decision Support Service and this work is ongoing.  Ms Áine Flynn was appointed Director of the Decision Support Service on 2 October 2017.

The Director is working in a very determined way to get the necessary staff resources, processes, IT system, expert panels, codes of practice and regulations in place in order that the Decision Support Service can be up and running as quickly as possible. There are many complex strands to this work, including involvement of multiple organisations.  Every effort is underway to ensure that the Decision Support Service has all necessary capacity to open for business as soon as possible.

The Mental Health Commission has recently engaged the consultancy firm BearingPoint to support the development of a detailed, costed plan to establish a fully operational Decision Support Service.  The contract also includes ongoing project management support for the design and establishment of the organisation, business processes, IT systems and risk management framework.

The 2018 Budget provided for an allocation of €3 million for the Decision Support Service in a new subhead D. 10 of the Justice and Equality Vote.  Funds from this subhead are released by my Department to the Mental Health Commission on foot of written drawdown requests from the MHC.

I am advised by the Mental Health Commission that €242,934 has been spent on the establishment of the Decision Support Service so far in 2018, with further expenditure of €149,004 expected before the end of June, which comes to a total amount of €391,938 by end-June.  This can be broken down as follows:

Staff costs: €116,314

Rent: €91,668

General expenses: €3,571

Legal, finance and compliance: €17,733

Project management/Business advisory: €161,976

ICT: €676

As the plans towards the establishment of the Decision Support Service progress during the rest of the year and additional full-time staff are recruited, it is expected that the expenditure rate will accelerate significantly.

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