Ms Ber Grogan:

Section 103 of the Bill deals with the codes of practice. There were two phases. Phase 1 opened at the end of November and closed on 7 January. There were six codes of practice in that session. This is the one Ms Coyle referred to. It was this first one that had some examples of scenarios none of which referenced mental health difficulties. The deadline for phase 2 is this Friday. There are eight codes of practice in this on decision making assistants, co-decision makers and independent advocates. These are the people we are speaking about today, including family members, friends, carers and supporters, who might be in a position of decision making support.

We have all mentioned the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Articles 3 and 4 require the State to consult with people in the process of making policy. This is not just to give them accessible information afterwards but to involve them throughout the process. I know there are huge time constraints with everything and we had the Christmas period. There is a total of 14 codes and they are very dense.