Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 25:

In page 12, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following:“ “property and affairs”, in relation to a relevant person, means one or more of the following matters:

(a) the custody, control and management of some or all of the relevant person’s property or property rights;

(b) the sale, exchange, mortgaging, charging, gift or other disposition of the relevant person’s property;

(c) the acquisition of property by the relevant person, or on his or her behalf;

(d) the carrying on, on behalf of the relevant person, of any profession, trade or business which may lawfully be carried on by a person other than the relevant person;

(e) the making of a decision which will have the effect of dissolving a partnership in which the relevant person is a partner;

(f) the carrying out of any contract entered into by the relevant person;

(g) the discharge of the relevant person’s debts or other obligations, whether or not any such debt or obligation is legally enforceable against the relevant person;

(h) the execution or exercise of any of the powers or discretions vested in the relevant person as a tenant for life;

(i) providing, to the extent that the relevant person might have been expected to do so, for the needs of a decision-making assistant, a co-decision-maker, an attorney, a designated healthcare representative or a decision-making representative, for the relevant person or of other persons;

(j) the conduct of proceedings before any court or tribunal, whether in the name of the relevant person or on his or her behalf;

(k) making an application for housing, social welfare or other benefits or otherwise protecting or advancing the interests of the relevant person in relation to those matters;

(l) other matters relating to the relevant person’s property and affairs;”.

I propose to discuss amendments Nos. 25, 56 and 196 together. The amendments propose to move the definition of property and affairs from section 26(1)(a) to the general interpretation section, as these provisions extend beyond decisions made by decision-making representatives and include decisions on property and affairs made by co-decision-makers, where authorised by a co-decision-making agreement, and by attorneys under enduring powers of attorney. Amendment No. 25 inserts a definition of personal welfare into section 2, the general interpretation section. No changes have been proposed to the matters encompassed by the definition of property and affairs as provided for in section 26(1)(a). Acceptance of this amendment will result in the deletion of section 26(1).

Amendments No. 56 and No. 196 are a consequence of the acceptance of amendment No. 25, which will result in the deletion of section 26(1). Amendment No. 56 proposes the deletion of the definition of property and affairs in section 9, which refers to one or more of the matters referred to in section 26(1)(a). Amendment No. 196 proposes the deletion of the definition of property and affairs in section 39, under definitions in relation to enduring powers of attorney, which also refers to section 26(1)(a).