Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am well aware of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013 and the delays with it. I know families who have been campaigning for it and are frustrated by the delays in bringing it forward. The Minister of State's concluding comments could be interpreted as making a judgment on which rights we will provide for in the first instance. I would say out of respect that I know the Minister of State did not mean that. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013 will have major effects. There are family members out there who have told me they were in tears as they filled in the form for long-term illness care because they had to label their child with "mental handicap". Other people told me they decided not to avail of the scheme because they refused to have their child labelled with "mental handicap".

This is not the Ireland of 1971; it is the Ireland of today. The Minister of State's remarks suggested that the use of this term was confined to the time of Erskine Childers. If she visits the HSE website today, she will see the list of conditions that have to be fulfilled by people in order to qualify for the long-term illness scheme. Those conditions include "mental handicap". The Minister of State can download the form from the HSE website.

I checked it again today and the term "mental handicap" is still on the form. According to the Minister of State, the contemporary term to be used is “intellectual disability” but it is not on this form. I am sure also that she and the rest of us use that term in everyday life. However, it is used in officialdom in this form and on the website. I accept the Health Service Executive has said it will change the form but it still has not happened.

One can change the form for the new language but the Act still states mental handicap is a qualifying condition for the long-term illness scheme. Most regulations can be changed at the stroke of a pen and ministerial order. Is it possible these terms can be changed in the Health Services (Amendment) Regulations 1971? This label is deeply offensive and hurtful. We are both on the same page that this should not exist. As the HSE can deal with it, can the Minister of State deal with it in the original legislation?

See this speech in context