Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This legislation is one of the most outstanding Bills to come into the House since I became a Senator because it is a reform of the law. It provides a modern statutory framework that supports decision-making by adults. It enables them to retain the greatest amount of autonomy possible in situations where they lack or may short lack capacity. I congratulate the Minister of State on the legislation.

One of the most interesting things about being hear and living in Ireland is that we spend most of our time talking about property.We are always talking about property, and about the heartbeat, the communication and the place of property. We hold it up, we define our lives by it, we respect ourselves through it and we even find value in ourselves through property. However, this legislation goes to the core of having value and respect for the dignity of every human being who has individual rights, regardless of whether they have a disability or not. As most Senators have said, it is unconscionable that our Constitution sets out in Article 40.1 that all persons shall as human beings be held equal before the law, and we are only now getting around to ensuring that our law reflects that principle.

Many Senators have referred to the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act 1871, which is still on the books - what they call in Mayo the demented and the downright deranged. The European Convention on Human Rights and other international instruments to which we are obliged to adhere come into focus now. This legislation, when it is enacted, will give Ireland one of the most enlightened pieces of legislation of its type anywhere in the world. It will strengthen the rights of all individuals. It will have particular relevance for people with intellectual disabilities and older people with diminished capacity, including those with dementia. Some 20% of the population over 80 years of age have dementia, and 4,000 people annually are diagnosed with dementia. It will also have particular relevance for people whose capacity has been affected by traumatic injury. At the moment we tend to ignore the legal rights of people with intellectual disability, people with dementia and others, and we assume very wrongly that they lack capacity.

I seem to be speaking in a train station. The Senator is not even aware. This is very important legislation but, when I came in here, we were not quorate, although I did not say anything because it is such important legislation. The train station just goes on, back and forward, forward and back.

This is ignoring the capacity to make all decisions, ignoring the right to decide, to consent and to make decisions which have profound implications for them at a personal level. This legislation will oblige us all to change our current very bad practices in this regard. It will directly affect many more of us as we age. This is something we can all talk about in regard to all kinds of legislation. However, the reality is that every one of us is going to get old. According to the last census, 11% of the population is over 65 and in 30 years time that will be 26%. We are living longer and we have an obligation to plan for our lives.

I have spoken many times and brought Private Members' motions about ageing in Ireland, the capacity of the elderly, the need to look at how we are going to age and what we can to do make this the best country possible in which to age. The ratio at the moment is 5.7 people working to every one over the age of 65 but, in 30 years, the ratio will be 2:1. That points to employment for older people and older people being independent, and to providing them with the right to be treated as human beings who can make decisions for themselves and not to be put into stand-alone nursing homes, on which I have also brought Private Members' motions. The legislation will enable us to plan in advance when we have decision-making capacity through making an enduring power of attorney or an advance health care directive, and to state our wishes for a time when we lack the capacity to make decisions personally.

One of the reasons for delayed discharges is that the person lacks decision-making capacity or there is no one with legal authority to make decisions on his or her behalf. There are many things I could say in general about living and getting older in this country.