John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

It is both a legal issue and a human rights one. The Disability Act 2005, underpinned by the national disability strategy, meets a considerable portion of the convention's requirements. In so far as the Department is concerned, the mental capacity Bill, which is in the course of being drafted by Parliamentary Counsel, is the main part that has been missing.

To clarify and as indicated in my earlier response, the convention will be ratified as quickly as possible, consistent with the need to ensure that all of the requirements under the convention are met. In a nutshell, the ratification depends on the mental capacity Bill. Given the importance of this matter, I commit to advancing it as quickly as possible in the new year.

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