.I thank all of the Deputies who spoke on his really important Bill both last night and tonight. I acknowledge Members who contributed to the debate and indicated their support for progressing what is urgent and important legislation. I really appreciate the fact that support came from both sides of the House. A lot of different issues were touched on both tonight and last night, so I going to do my best to address as many of them as possible within the time I have. Immediately following approval by Cabinet for this amendment Bill, which happened on 20 January, at which point it was a proposed Bill, on the same day I convened an online meeting of stakeholders to apprise them of the planned amendments and to provide an opportunity for them to pose any questions they might have. My officials circulated an information note to all stakeholders, which set out clearly the planned changes to the Act. We held a further separate dedicated consultation session with the Disabled Persons' Organisations Network to discuss the upcoming changes and to invite their views and feedback. Written feedback was invited and, indeed, received from disabled persons' organisations. Department officials also briefed the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, on the proposed amendments to the legislation. As I said yesterday, officials from my Department held a consultation meeting and event for wards, committees and wider stakeholders on Monday of this week. At that, we were able to hear at first hand the issues that are arising both with the discharge process itself and regarding some concerns around what life may be like once a ward has transitioned to a new support arrangement. I am absolutely happy to run another of those events if there is a demand. It is important to note that event was attended by key stakeholders involved in the operation of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act, for example the Office of the Wards of Court, the Decision Support Service, the Legal Aid Board, the NDA, the National Advocacy Service and, most importantly, wards, their families and their committees. The reason I am saying this is that I want Members to know I always place consultation, communication and stakeholder engagement at the centre of what I do. My officials also do that, and did that really well. That is because we fully believe it is crucial that both wards and committees are supported as they move through this process of transitioning out of wardship and into a rights-based framework of decision support services. There were a number of questions about why discharge has been so slow. Deputies Gogarty, Quaide and O'Rourke asked specific questions on this. I acknowledge that while the pace of discharge for wards has been slow, there is a serious concern that a significant number of cases will not have received a capacity declaration by the deadline. That is why we are where we are. However, we undertook a survey in previous years in collaboration with the Courts Service. We did that in June 2024. The survey sought the views and attitudes of wards and committees on the process to discharge wards from wardship in order to identify the reasons the pace of wards and committees applying for discharge from wardship have been slow. That survey clearly found three recurring themes. One was reluctance to change from a familiar system. The second was satisfaction with the existing arrangements. The third was uncertainty about the costs of the discharge applications. Wards and committees have also reported concerns about the future management of funds. That came up a number of times, both today and yesterday. The survey also indicated that committees are taking a wait and see approach to commencing discharge applications. That is why we have engaged so much with them so we can really try to bring them with us on this journey. Deputies Kerrane, Buckley and Mark Ward specifically raised the topic of minors. To answer Deputy Ward's clear question of how many children this impacts, the answer is none. The reason for that is that the wardship regime is ending for adults. These amendments do not change that from an adult's perspective. I know Deputy Kerrane had a specific question about the extension for children entering adulthood. The statutory anchor date of 26 April will remain in place for all pending cases, just to be clear. The ADMC Act itself applies to minors only for the exception, in terms of when they reach the age of 18 after 26 October 2025. From 25 October 2027 is when we are now putting in that extension. That is not a target date. That is an end date. The statutory deadline of 26 April of this year remains as a goalpost. We were very clear that we did not want to remove that because want to keep the momentum going. In the case of minors reaching the age of 18, the requirement to discharge them within six months will remain in place. However, experience has shown that cases involving a young person who was in wardship as a minor can be among the most complex to access. Therefore, for the sake of fairness and consistency with the provision for adults, this Bill will also give the wardship court the discretion to extend the time period for making a capacity declaration in those cases but only in exceptional circumstances. Deputies Kerrane and Quaide raised the issue of exceptional circumstances and its definition. Ultimately, it will be up to the courts to determine what good reason or exceptional circumstances are, but that is common. The courts are entrusted with the administration of justice under the constitution. I am really confident they can be trusted to exercise their discretion in accordance with the requirements of fair procedure. The expectation has been reinforced in the Bill by the inclusion of "in the interests of justice", and that is a criterion as well. Ultimately, capacity declarations must be evidence-based and that will not change. Deputy Ó Murchú raised a specific concern about correspondence from St. John of God intellectual disability services about decision-making representation orders. When wardship courts make a declaration regarding a ward's capacity, that is done on the basis of evidence before the court. That also includes the results of a functional capacity assessment. The guiding principles of the Act dictate that any intervention that is made is proportionate and made in a manner that minimises the restriction of the person's rights and freedom of action. It must have due regard to the relevant person's right to dignity, bodily integrity, privacy, autonomy, control over their financial affairs and property, and it must respect the individual's right to private and family life. It is also important to recognise that, once the wardship court declares that a ward lacks capacity to make certain decisions, this declaration is then kept under review by the Circuit Court. A number of Deputies, Paul Lawless and Mark Ward in particular, raised issues about advanced healthcare directives and the enduring power of attorney, EPA. Just to deal with Deputy Lawless's query about enduring power of attorney and being online only, the service is absolutely digital first but it is not digital only. It is really important the constituents he is speaking about are aware of that and decision support services are there to provide that exact service for that reason. Deputy Devlin used a very important phrase earlier when he said this has to be about empowerment and not paperwork. That is absolutely what we are committed to doing. A number of Deputies raised queries about resources and wider issues or concerns they have about the Act. On resources, as part of the development of the Bill, the Courts Service has provided the Department with estimates which ensure that the further deadline of 27 October will be met. To ensure this, in December, the courts assigned additional judges to make a declaration of capacity. We now have a total of four judges working on this. It is also important to say that everybody now has a legal aid certificate in place. I know Deputy Gogarty in particular had concerns that resources might come after the fact, but since December, there has been a huge impetus on this. A number of resources have been put in place to ensure we can move forward with any new extensions that may happen to the deadline. On the review of the Act, there was an awful lot of feedback about the Act itself. It is my Department's intention to commence a review of the Act this year. It is due in 2028 but we are very committed to ensuring we are listening to feedback from Deputies in this House and who are on our Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters, but also, and most important, that we are listening to people who are impacted by this and to those who represent them, work with them and support them. We will be commencing that review and work will start on that this year. It is something my officials and I are determined will be absolutely inclusive and consultative. I really appreciate people's support for this Bill. I am ever mindful of our obligations under the UNCRPD. This is an important part of our commitment to ensuring we realise those. We will continue to work towards the objective of realising these obligations by fully transitioning all wards of court to a new, rights-based, supported decision making framework. We will do so as soon as possible. With the benefits of these amendments, we will be able to do it in a manner that is fair and orderly while we maintain as much legal certainty as possible for the people at the heart of this.

Sentiment score: 0.26