I appreciate the opportunity to speak. As the Minister of State knows, we are supporting this Bill, but as has been said on multiple occasions, it needs to be treated with caution. The timelines around this are really tight and an awful lot of people are going to be left in difficulties. We need to ensure that all wards of court are given the opportunity to engage with the assessment process. It is only fair to allow all wards to be assessed. By going by the Government's dates, 1,400 cases will still not have been heard. Also, some of the amendments provide that there must be provision for wards who reach 18 years of age after the deadline. This Bill must serve to stop the confusion and lack of understanding around the entire ward of court system to ensure the wishes of an individual being made a ward are adhered to during the application for wardship. This includes issues such as whether they want to be made a ward at all, consent to medical procedures, where they wish to live or how their property is to be disposed of. The HSE should ensure that lawyers used in the ward of court proceedings have appropriate expertise in law on the decision-making capacity and human rights obligations for persons who may be vulnerable. The HSE should also produce a national guideline for legal and medical practitioners to ensure the protection of the rights of a prospective ward of proceedings because, at the end of the day, while most of the time people are made wards for their own good and protection, there is a human rights issue and every person deserves their human rights to be upheld. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 remains non-compliant with the UNCRPD due to its approach to the functional assessment of capacity, which leads to a denial of legal capacity. By fast-tracking this amendment Bill through the Oireachtas, the Minister of State is missing out on an important opportunity to improve the Act's compliance with Article 12. Special effort should be made to ensure that a person who is made a ward or is transitioning into assisted decision-making above all is for the person's best interests and that no other person, be they family members, carers or solicitors, stand to gain financially from the assets of the person due to be made a ward. Again, the more up-to-date and progressive Bill is to be welcomed but not without certain precautions, and it should not be fast-tracked but carefully debated and scrutinised to ensure that the human rights of all persons concerned are upheld.

Sentiment score: 0.35