Ms ?ine Flynn:

I have referred to some of it. We wrote setting out how that consultation was conducted and that we would be publishing our report on how the consultation was conducted in conjunction with the publication of the codes. The appendix lists all of the organisations that engaged with us. I am not sure if by DPO the Senator means the strict definition of a disabled persons organisation. There are five or six that strictly qualify as DPOs. We heard back widely from the disability sector. We always encourage engagement from the ultimate potential users of this service. If there are any that feel they have not heard from us, then I ask that they please be sent our way. We are the provider of information and guidance under the Act. We have met multiple organisations that represent the interests of disabled persons, as well as DPOs, properly termed. However, we are always open to engagement. I am very happy to have those conversations continue. They are the most important conversations we can be having. In the same letter of 5 July, I set out all of the organisations we had conferred with at that point in the year,and obviously we have done more since.

I think the Senator had a question about how we are engaging with the healthcare sector. A lot of that happens. Yesterday, I spoke with the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, and took part in a HSE-organised event, which was particularly on the interface with mental health services. Last week I spoke to one of the teaching hospitals in the south east and to a provider of residential services to older people. That is just to give the Senator a sample of how extensive that engagement is. The HSE human rights and equality office does a lot of that too, because that is its sector and we do some of it together. It has a really good website with lots of resources, namely, assisteddecisionmaking.ie, and we encourage people to consult that all of the time. We have a duty to provide information and guidance across the sectors. While it does not go as far as training, we do input on training all the time and the level of engagement has been very good and we know there is an appetite for information.

The Senator's final question was about current wards of court. They are coming out of wardship. That is undoubted. They have to, under the Act. Our function is not so much part of that review process. However, it may be that as an outcome of the review process, they move over to one of the supports offered under the 2015 Act and that is where we would come in. We might be supervising a co-decision-making agreement or the operation of a decision-making representation order. There is a bigger question about what resources will be more generally in terms of accommodation and that is not our remit. I think there will always be the perennial question about resources and support for people more generally. That is outside of our scope, unfortunately.