I am very glad to have the opportunity to debate this legislation this evening. Before I get into the specifics of the Bill, I want to talk about the enduring power of attorney, which comes under the assisted decision-making Act and is incredibly complicated. I have dealt with this with a few constituents in my own county of Mayo. Trying to get the power of attorney is very difficult, complicated and unfriendly. The system is very difficult to navigate through. I always tell and advise people to make sure they get the power of attorney even at times when they do not need it because they may need it in the future. Most people do not look at it until there is a diagnosis of ill health, whether that is dementia or whatever else. It is important that people do not leave it too late. Some of the people involved in the process have told me there is a real struggle. We need to look at simplifying it. We should look to see how we can make it a simpler process. One constituent outlined to me how it involves multiple trips to the solicitor. This particular individual is a wheelchair user, and that posed additional costs and stresses and so on. Then of course there are lots of other difficult scenarios, and trying to navigate them has been incredibly difficult, as I know from dealing and working with constituents. I ask the Minister of State to really look at that. I know it is complex, and there are legal considerations, but the other side of it is that these people are very vulnerable as well in many cases. That should really be looked at to see how we can maintain that legal ground and make sure we are doing everything right legally. We have to give everyone the opportunity to make sure because some people will fall through the cracks here. I understand the DSS has been getting between 80 and 100 phone calls per day in terms of queries. That is another example of the difficulties out there. We need to make sure that people who need the service, whether they are elderly or people with disabilities, should be able to get a physical copy of the form and send it in the post without ever having to go online. That option should be available to them. My understanding currently is that it is an online process, but I will stand corrected if that is not the case. I was informed by a constituent in relation to it. The specific legislation we are debating today is obviously about wards of court. The Government is trying to move people out of the old system and into the assisted decision-making system. However, it has failed to meet the legislative deadline it set for itself and so is ultimately extending it. I want the Minister of State to explain today, if she can, why the deadline was not met. What are the barriers she has come up against in relation to it? What are the steps that are being taken to address this to ensure that the next deadline will not be pushed out further? I listened carefully to the Minister of State's contribution earlier and the figures she provided. She said that that 390 wards of court had been discharged, with 38 of them requiring no decision-making assistance. I am concerned about that figure. What safeguards are in place, and what criteria are applied to ensure there is a smooth transition from the old system to the new system? If people are not allowed to touch their bank accounts for decades and all of a sudden, they are given access to their assets and their money, there is a real and significant fear - I know the Minister of State is aware of this - that they could spend all their money on Monday and end up homeless on Tuesday. That is a significant concern. I urge the Minister of State to ensure we protect these people. Does the fact that these 38 individuals have been deemed to be capable of making their own decisions mean they should never have been wards of court in the first place? If that is the case, what is the Minister of State's position in relation to it? Will there be an apology for same, etc.? I thank the Minister of State for her work on this. It is a very important issue. It is important that we get it right, and it is important that we protect these very vulnerable people and make sure we create a system that is as simple and straightforward for them as possible.

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