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

The proposed amendment seeks to delete provisions in the Bill that remove treatment decisions from enduring powers of attorney, EPAs. While I note the purpose of the Senator's amendment, I believe the provisions her amendment seeks to delete are important in providing legal clarity. The importance of such legal clarity should not be underestimated. The removal of treatment decisions from EPAs ensures there will be no ambiguity between decisions included in EPAs and those in advanced healthcare directives, AHD. This clarity is essential to medical professionals treating relevant persons with a registered AHD, particularly in cases where urgent or even life-or-death decisions are required. The supporting statement of an advanced healthcare directive, alongside the explicitly health-focused role, makes a designated healthcare representative the appropriate decision supporter.

In addition, Part 8 of the Act provides superior clarity and protections for relevant persons and healthcare professionals as to guidance on what should happen if an ambiguity arises in an advanced directive, such as when a decision supporter cannot be located immediately and a life-or-death decision must be made. Part 8 is the better part of the Act to address such concerns and sets out comprehensive and detailed provisions on treatment issues in a way sections relating to EPAs do not.

The Decision Support Service, DSS, will work to reduce any administrative burden associated with this process, and it will be permissible for the same person to act as an attorney and a designated healthcare representative. As I said on Committee Stage, the 2015 Act was reviewed in detail in the process of preparing the amended Bill. It was found there is a risk to a relevant person if two decision supporters have equal rights in treatment decisions at a moment of crisis and that the provisions of Part 8 were superior in terms of guidance and safeguard on treatment decisions.

The approach we are adopting is the correct approach. We should leave EPAs for issues such as property or personal welfare decisions. We should reserve advanced healthcare directives for health and treatment-based decisions.