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

The reason behind the change being made here was to give the relevant person more autonomy. The new role for registration with the DSS rather than with the court will be less costly and should be easier to process than is the case under the current system. The two-stage nature means that for as long as the relevant person has capacity, he or she is in a position to influence or change the various elements around it. We see that as a positive step, rather than having them locked into a process from early on. That is the basis for the approach being taken. It is to better to allow the will and preference of the relevant person to influence what is happening for as long as he or she is in a position to so do, but also in terms of making the process less costly. That is how we envisage the revised system. I accept that the Senator may disagree but certainly our sense is that this is an improvement and a step forward rather than a step back.