Mr. Se?n Moynihan:

We recommend the widespread implementation of this. Moving to a situation where we assume people have capacity over their lives is to be welcomed. Ultimately, part of this legislation is to give voice to people's will and preference.

As Mr. Taylor said, in fairness to the Oireachtas, the Act was passed in 2015. It has been a long journey to get here. In some ways, on an everyday basis, in those eight years and prior to that we saw some of the biases, especially in the case of older people who might have had or have mental health difficulties. Ultimately, there was that assumption that they do not have capacity. Every day older people dealing with health services and other challenges in their lives face a situation where people discuss or look to discuss the issues with those people's sons or daughters rather than directing the discussion to the individual in person. We are hoping that, through the enactment of this legislation, the training and development and the wider understanding of that, there will be a spin-off in regard to those everyday ageist practices that happen in multiple agencies.

We hope people will realise it is about older persons, their will and preferences, and that we must assume they have the capacity and ability to make these decisions for themselves, albeit sometimes, when required, with elements of support.