Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I left out my reply to one important question that Senator John Dolan raised relating to the UN convention. Ireland signed the convention in 2007. We are committed to signing the convention. Earlier, I referred to the barriers to the convention, the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, the deprivation of liberty issue and the reason for the delays in the Bill. I pointed out clearly during the debate that when the general scheme was approved by the previous Government, the deprivation of liberty provisions were to be advanced as Committee Stage amendments. This was a simple acknowledgement of the complexity and importance of the issue. I will also address the issue of equality when I am responding to some of my colleagues in the Dáil. I am open to ideas and amendments. We have already hinted at that when it comes to Committee Stage. When the Bill goes to Committee Stage, many of the issues raised by my colleagues in the Dáil will be included in the legislation.