Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for being with us and for their opening statement. I have to admit that from working in this committee and in disability services before you think you have some idea of what it is like but unless you or a family member have a disability there is so much to learn about the constant barriers and challenges. Nonetheless, the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides an invaluable yardstick to hold the State and other actors to account in the context of the provision of services and supports using a social model and a human rights-based approach. It also calls for greater awareness of disability matters in communities in order to recognise and value the contribution of disabled people to enriching society, and that is ultimately what this committee is charged with. I re-emphasise how great it is to have the witnesses here and how valuable that is to the committee.

I refer to concerns around the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. It is important to elaborate on those concerns, specifically on the concerns with general data protection regulation and transition times for carers to become decision-making supporters or representatives, which was mentioned briefly in Family Carers Ireland's opening statement. Could the witnesses elaborate on that a bit more? Could they elaborate on what information Family Carers Ireland has received? It was said that the information was sparse but I am interested to know what information Family Carers Ireland has received.

Based on what Ms Cox was saying there, I am presuming that in conclusion Family Carers Ireland does not feel well informed but I would like to get clarity on that and on the changes that will come into effect soon. I ask the witnesses to elaborate on what the Government and the Decision Support Service could be doing to help prepare Ms Johnstone and other carers, and Family Carers Ireland. It is such complex legislation, and it was a steep learning curve for me when we had the debates on it.

Some of us were on the Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth as well as being on this committee and throughout the process it was an exercise in challenging all of our beliefs about things. It is so complex and even though we might talk about the example of somebody going to McDonalds there is also a realisation that people without a disability often make decisions that are unwise. People might spend their money and have nothing left. We all do these things and we have the right to do that. That debate brought all of these aspects into our discussion and that was valuable. That took place over a month of looking at and researching different things. It is so damning to hear that families and individuals then do not have information about what is coming down the line. This will be a shift and I am interested to hear a bit more about what information Family Carers Ireland has received and what the Decision Support Service and the Government should be doing to try to provide more information.