Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Many Deputies spoke to me in the process of this legislation. Deputy Mattie McGrath mentioned in some of the earlier debates the very difficult cases in which people have been caught up, the lack of appropriate legislation that existed or, indeed, the wardship process, which is an incredibly blunt process. The whole thrust behind what we are trying to do is create a decision support service with a director and staff who are there to have an oversight role in terms of these relationships. Once these decision support representatives are put in place, there is a mechanism for complaints and issues to be raised.

Can I make a commitment that this piece of legislation will solve everything? No, I cannot. However, I do think it is a much clearer system with much greater checks and balances. There will be a much higher degree of regulation. I am hopeful but, more than that, I strongly believe that this new system will provide much greater protection to people whose capacity is reduced and who must rely on others in supporting their decision-making abilities.

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