Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

One of the proposals that the Ombudsman has reluctantly accepted is the one from the Department that women who lack capacity should be made wards of court. However, it is important that we do not allow that process to proceed in a very slow and difficult manner from the point of view of the applicants. I suggest that the Minister proactively provides practical support to those women who are seeking to be made wards of court so that their applications can be made promptly. The Department should work closely with the Courts Service to ensure that any wardship applications are processed in a timely and sensitive manner. Otherwise, the wardship application process will drag on. In many instances we are talking about women who are in their elder years and they need to have this process finalised as soon as possible. The State should be assisting them with their wards of court applications.

In order to ensure that any future restorative justice or redress schemes benefit from the learning from the operation of this and other schemes, guidance should be produced in respect of the development and operation of such schemes generally.

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