Professor Malcolm MacLachlan:

I will respond to a very important point made by the Deputy about the optional protocol in the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act. In a previous role I was the knowledge management lead for the UN partnership on the rights of persons with disabilities. We worked across more than 30 countries looking at issues such as ratification and the adoption of the protocol. Quite a lot of countries ratified and then adopted the protocol but actually do not have the means to deliver on that. Even though Ireland's ratification was frustratingly slow, it has shown that it has been very genuine in that we want to put things in place to deliver on what that sort of commitment means. It is the same with the optional protocol: having the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act fully implemented is very important. It is key to recognising that the optional protocol is not a fast route to solving any of these things. The members might be aware that the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the UN takes several years to process submissions. Submissions made through the optional protocol route have sometimes taken four or five years to actually come back to the country, which then has to address them. I do not think it is a case of either-or. We should definitely be doing both. Focusing on the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act will give people their rights more quickly. In parallel we should be pursuing the protocol, but implementing the Act is key.