Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 9 September 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Covid-19: Human Rights and Civil Liberty Considerations

Ms Sinéad Gibney:

Absolutely. There has been an impact assessment of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2019, on which we have commented on multiple occasions. The legislation will provide for a human rights approach to capacity that is decision-specific. It will end the wards of court system, which is based on a black-and-white assessment that the person either has, or does not have, the capacity to make decisions in all areas of their life. While the focus has been on the establishment of the decision support service, the legislation also requires significant change in the legal system, including legal aid court services, and makes provision for the Department of Health to make regulations on advanced healthcare decisions. We have mentioned this in numerous treaty reports and it is something on which we will continue to work. I apologise to the Deputy, but I was looking for my notes when he asked his second question, so I did not hear it.