Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 30:

In page 29, to delete lines 2 to 38, and in page 30, to delete lines 1 to 20 and substitute the following:“18. (1) A co-decision-making agreement shall not enter into force until it has been registered in accordance with section 19.

(2) An application to register a co-decision-making agreement shall be made not later than 5 weeks from the date the agreement was signed, in such form and accompanied by such fee as shall be prescribed by regulations made under section 27 and, subject to section 14(6), shall be signed by both the appointer and the co-decision-maker (in this section referred to as “the applicants”).

(3) The applicants shall, at the same time as making an application to register a co-decision-making agreement under this section, jointly give notice, in such form as shall be prescribed by regulations made under section 27, of the application and give a copy of the co-decision-making agreement to the following persons:

(a) the spouse or civil partner (if any) of the appointer;

(b) the cohabitant (if any) of the appointer;

(c) any children of the appointer who have attained the age of 18 years;

(d) any decision-making assistant for the appointer;

(e) any decision-making representative for the appointer;

(f) any attorney for the appointer;

(g) any designated healthcare representative for the appointer;

(h) any co-decision-maker of the appointer under another co-decision-making agreement.

(4) An application under subsection (2) shall be accompanied by the following:

(a) the co-decision-making agreement;

(b) a statement by the appointer that he or she—

(i) understands the implications of entering into the co-decision-making agreement and has read and understands the information contained therein, or has had such information explained to him or her,

(ii) wishes to enter into the co-decision-making agreement with the co-decision-maker,

(iii) is aware that he or she may, with the consent of the co-decision-maker, vary the co-decision-making agreement, and

(iv) is aware that he or she may revoke the co-decision-making agreement;

(c) a statement by the co-decision-maker that he or she—

(i) understands the implications of entering into the co-decision-making agreement and has read and understands the information contained therein,

(ii) understands and undertakes to act in accordance with the functions of a co-decision-maker,

(iii) understands and undertakes to act in accordance with the guiding principles,

(iv) understands and undertakes to comply with the reporting obligations under section 23, and

(v) understands the provisions of this Part relating to variation, revocation and nullity of co-decision-making agreements;

(d) a statement as to why the less intrusive measure of a decision-making assistance agreement was not chosen;

(e) details of any existing decision-making assistance agreement, co-decision-making agreement, decision-making order, decision-making representation order, power of attorney (whether an enduring power or otherwise and whether registered or not) or advance healthcare directive in respect of the appointer;

(f) a statement by a registered medical practitioner and a statement by such other healthcare professional of a class as shall be prescribed by regulations made under section 27 that in his or her opinion—

(i) the appointer has capacity to make a decision to enter into the co-decision-making agreement,

(ii) the appointer requires assistance in exercising his or her decision-making in respect of the relevant decisions contained in the co-decision-making agreement, and

(iii) the appointer has capacity to make the relevant decisions specified in the co-decision-making agreement with the assistance of the co-decision-maker;

(g) references, in such form as shall be prescribed by regulations made under section 27, by 2 persons as to the personal character of the co-decision-maker;

(h) details of the notice given pursuant to subsection (3); and (i) the appropriate fee, as prescribed by regulations under section 27.”.

I propose to discuss amendments Nos. 30 to 33, inclusive, together. The proposed amendments are to sections 18 to 21, inclusive, which deal with the various procedures set out for the registration of a co-decision-making agreement.

Amendment No. 30 proposes to delete section 18, "Application to register," and replace it with amended text. Once again, the amendments are technical in nature, with only one significant amendment to subsection 2, which provides for a time limit of five weeks between the date a co-decision-making agreement is signed and the date on which an application is made the director to register the agreement. This is to ensure that all the relevant details in the agreement are current and that the capacity assessments by a registered medical practitioner and another health care professional are still valid.

Amendment No. 31 proposes the deletion of section 19, "Registration of a co-decision-making agreement," and the insertion of amended text. The substantial amendment to this section is the insertion of new subsections 4 and 5, which set out the procedure that will apply where the director refuses to register a co-decision-making agreement. Subsection 4 allows an appointer or co-decision-maker, or both, to appeal to the court the decision of the director not to register a co-decision-making agreement. Subsection 5 sets out the determinations that the court may make in regard to an appeal under subsection 4, including requiring the director to register an agreement. The provisions of subsections 6 to 8, inclusive, have been moved into a new section 20, "Effect and proof of registration," which is provided for by amendment No. 32. This is a technical drafting amendment that pulls together into one section the existing provisions in subsections 19(6), (7) and (8) which relate to the effect of registration.

Amendment No. 33 proposes the deletion of section 20, "Objections to registration", and its substitution with amended text. The amended text provides for technical amendments to the provisions. It also provides for an appeal mechanism to the director's finding that an objection to the registration of a co-decision-making agreement is not well-founded. The new subsection 5 allows a person whose objection has been found by the director not to be well-founded to appeal the registration of the co-decision-making agreement to the court. The new subsection 6 sets out the determinations that the court may make relating to an appeal under subsection 5, including requiring the director to remove the agreement from the register.

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