Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am very conscious of the point raised by the Deputy and I am also very conscious of her interest and that of others in this House in this area of law over several years. I am very keen to see progress on the implementation of the legislation as enacted. The commencement of Part 8 of the Act, which provides for a legislative framework for advanced healthcare directives, is a matter for the Minister for Health. My Department will continue to work closely with the Mental Health Commission and the director of the DSS to deliver the full implementation of the Act. When the Act is fully commenced, the law will be changed from the current all or nothing status approach to a flexible functional definition, whereby capacity is assessed only in relation to the matter in question and only at the time in question. I would be happy to provide the table provided to me to Deputy Connolly now but she is right the figures do amount to in excess of 1,000 wards of court during the period 2016-19. I would be very keen to facilitate the continued ongoing working of all the parties to ensure the implementation happens as quickly as possible.

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