Results 14,661-14,680 of 15,268 for speaker:Kathleen Lynch

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: Competence is the issue. Over the last two years, we have been told constantly that the Courts Service is not the appropriate place. People did not feel comfortable with the paternalistic approach taken to justice over the centuries by past Governments. There is a perception that the court system is concerned with the imposition of penalty. This legislation is essentially about liberation...

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The two new bodies mentioned are self-funding, which is the central difference. For as long as I am involved in politics I will not allow the imposition of financial penalties in this area. I have a particular problem with the association of the Road Safety Authority with the Mental Health Commission. The fundamental difference is that the Road Safety Authority is self-financing, as are...

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: No, but it will remain part of the justice system. It will be independent but so, too, is the Mental Health Commission. Perhaps a future Government will decide that the DSS should be a stand-alone agency. Even if that were the case now, I would still be looking to the Mental Health Commission for direction in this regard. The mental health commissioners are the experts in this area. They...

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The Mental Health Commission has the expertise in this area. As I said, even if we were in this legislation proposing the establishment of a new agency we would still be looking to the Mental Health Commission to do it for us. The Mental Health Commission has the expertise and knowledge required to do this. It has been doing this type of work since its establishment. The mental health...

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: Yes.

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: Yes.

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: No argument.

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: They are self-financing.

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The Deputy is easily baffled.

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: It is very much independent.

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: This Bill has been four years in gestation and we have had two years of consultation, which is why it has been amended repeatedly. The Bill is not the same as the one that first appeared. There is no resemblance. The Title has changed as has the concept underpinning the Bill. The term "best interests" was used in the Bill when it first appeared. We now talk about "will" and "preference",...

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I am not saying they said it. The Mental Health Commission is truly independent. We have a job of work to do which will happen over the next six months. There will be a rebranding, which will benefit both sides. However, the Mental Health Commission has the expertise in terms of standards, functionality and human rights in this area. It has the expertise in terms of dealing with people...

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The policing authority is attached to the Department of Justice and Equality. If one makes that argument about the policing authority, one clearly has to make the same argument about the decision support services. It will be attached to another body, which gets Government funding, but it is independent.

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: It will be independent in its operation but it is attached to another body. If we are to examine this issue again, I can tell Deputy Mac Lochlainn that the Bill will be left in the wilderness.

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (Resumed) (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I will be brief because I have said as much as I need to say on this issue. The Bill provides that while the decision support service will, in the first instance, lay its report before the Minister for Health, it will also lay it before the Minister for Justice and Equality because the Minister for Justice and Equality has responsibility for the legislation. The Minister for Health simply...

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (Resumed) (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I am not certain how much more I can emphasise this. The reason I was quoted as saying that was because I said it and I said it again in here this morning. Deputy Pádraug Mac Lochlainn does not have to quote the debate from the Seanad because I said it here this morning. The reason I said it is because I keep hearing about new politics and how we should do politics differently. I...

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (Resumed) (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: Seanad amendments Nos. 165 and 166 are interesting. They amend the Civil Legal Aid 1995 to ensure people whose capacity is to be challenged or assessed in court have an automatic right to representation by the Legal Aid Board and the board has the right to charge but only to the limit of the fee set by the Legal Aid Board. If one is entitled to free legal aid, then well and good, and the...

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (Resumed) (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I do not want to hold up proceedings but I thank the Deputies opposite who have taken an interest in the Bill. It is technical, long and complex and has been amended dramatically. It is not the same Bill as originally presented. From time to time, it must have seemed cumbersome and difficult to come to terms with. I appreciate their interest because no legislation should go unchallenged...

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: From the Seanad (Resumed) (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I should also have mentioned that Department of Health officials worked very hard on this on the advanced health care directives.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Funding (17 Dec 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: Each year, the HSE funds its various services and programmes, such as the National Asthma Programme, from its annual funding allocation. Therefore, I have asked the HSE to respond directly to the Deputy on this matter. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with the Executive.