John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Yes, and I am well aware that only a few short weeks of the current session remain. I will not use the excuse of budgetary considerations, etc. As Minister of State with responsibility in this area, it is up to me to ensure the legislation is published during the remaining two or three weeks of the session.

I wish to provide a full reply on the specific matter to which the Senator refers. In that context, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an important human rights instrument with an explicit social development dimension. It adopts a broad categorisation of persons with disabilities and reaffirms that all persons with all types of disability must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms of existing United Nations human rights conventions.

Not long ago I met representatives of Amnesty International which has been campaigning for some time in respect of mental health as a human right. That is Amnesty International's prerogative and it is the issue on which it is placing emphasis. I provided its representatives with a commitment on this matter when I met them three weeks ago. Last week the Minister of State at the Departments of Justice and Law Reform, Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs and Education and Skills, Deputy Mary Alexandra White, and the Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Carey, and I also met the representatives and I provided them with the same commitment I have just given to the Senator. While I do not see the Government's term being extended beyond February or March next, it is important that the legislation be dealt with in order that we might implement the provisions of the convention.

Ireland was in the first group of countries to sign this very important convention when it opened for signature on 30 March 2007 and is totally committed to the implementation of its provisions and the consequent improvements in the lives of people with disabilities. We are well advanced towards achieving this through the national disability strategy, the ongoing implementation of which is informed by the requirements of the UN convention and which comprehends many of its provisions. In addition, an interdepartmental committee on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities monitors the remaining legislative and administrative actions required to enable the State to formally ratify the convention. This committee has developed a programme, on which work is progressing, to address the matters that need to be aligned with the convention.

It is the Government's intention to formally ratify the convention as quickly as possible. However, as the Senator is undoubtedly aware, Ireland does not tend to formally ratify treaties until it is, first, in a position to comply with the obligations imposed by such treaties, including by amending domestic legislation, as necessary. One of the key legislative requirements identified by the interdepartmental committee in this regard is the introduction of mental capacity legislation, which is the responsibility of the Department of Justice and Law Reform. However, I have always stated that, as Minister of State with responsibility for disability and mental health, it is my intention to drive the legislation forward.

As indicated in the Government's legislative programme, it is intended that the mental capacity Bill will be published during the current Dáil session. The Senator may state the term "intended" is too loose in nature. However, I reiterate my commitment to publish the legislation during the current session. The main purpose of the Bill is to reform the wards of court system in so far as it applies to adults and replace it with a modern statutory framework governing decision-making on behalf of persons who lack capacity. The wards of court system is outdated and incapable of coping with the existing and projected demographic growth in the numbers of persons who lack capacity. The Bill will provide greater protection for a range of adults, including persons with intellectual disabilities, persons suffering from dementia or mental illness and persons who have acquired brain injuries through trauma or accident.

The main provisions of the Bill include setting down guiding principles to assist both the courts and persons making decisions on behalf of adults who lack capacity. The statutory guiding principles will require that any act done or decision made on behalf of a person must be in that person's best interests. The Bill will also provide that a person is entitled to supported or assisted decision-making. Where it is not possible to support a person in exercising capacity or making a decision, the Bill will provide that the court or a personal guardian appointed thereby will act as the substitute decision-maker on his or her behalf. Under the Bill, an office of the public guardian which will be responsible for the supervision of personal guardians and donees of enduring powers of attorney will be established. The Bill will also repeal and subsume the provisions of the Powers of Attorney Act 1996. The Bill's passage will give effect to the Hague Convention on the International Protection of Adults, as well as adding substantially to the overall progress made in implementation of the requirements towards ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

While Ireland has not yet ratified the convention, the national disability strategy and the work of the interdepartmental committee have ensured considerable and ongoing progress is being made. The actual implementation of the convention will be well advanced by the time the formal ratification process has been completed. I will ensure the legislation is published before the end of the session.