Seanad debates

Wednesday, 9 December 2015

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: Committee Stage

 

10:30 am

Photo of Kathleen LynchKathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Amendments Nos. 4, 6, 10, 11, 13, 16, 55, 75, 134 and 213 propose to delete the current definitions in the Bill relating to an "approved nursing home", "care service", "relevant facility" and "nursing home or residential facility". Two new terms are proposed as more accurate terms to describe the facilities in which those encompassed by this Bill may be resident. The term "designated centre" is proposed to encompass residential facilities for older persons and persons with disabilities. It is a more accurate term than those currently in the Bill. It is a term already defined in section 2 of the Health Act 2007. It is proposed that it will bring consistency to the terminology used in the Bill. The term "mental health facility" is retained to encompass residential facilities for persons with mental health illness.

It is not appropriate to retain terms, such as "approved nursing home", as they relate to the nursing home support scheme. The facilities encompassed by this Bill are broader than those which come under the nursing home support scheme. The change of terminology will require the consequential amendment of the definition of the "owner" of such facilities. Amendment No. 10 proposes a definition of "owner" which includes the new terms of "designated centre" and "mental health facility".

Amendments Nos. 55 and 75 are consequential on the streamlining of references to institutions. The references proposed are to "designated centres" to encompass nursing homes and residential facilities for people with disabilities and to "mental health facilities". The provision has been redrafted to make its intent clearer as our consultations with disability and mental health stakeholders has suggested that the provision had created confusion. What is proposed is that an owner, a person living with the owner or an employee are automatically disqualified from acting as interveners under the Bill, that is, acting as a co-decision-maker. The exception is where any of them are the spouse, civil partner, cohabitant, parent, child or sibling of the relevant person.

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