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

I thank the Senators for their kind comments. It is an important day. We are today taking the second-last step towards consigning wardship to being a historical point rather than a lived reality. It is a Victorian institution but it remains a lived reality for thousands of people in our country today. That is no longer an appropriate mechanism to deal with the many sensitive, personal, technical and legal requirements that stem from a person whose capacity is diminished, and has not been for a long time. It does not recognise the spectrum across which a person's capacity can be diminished. A previous Dáil took the steps necessary to address this but those provisions have not been in operation. We will have to bring this legislation through one final session in the Dáil and I look forward to doing that before the Christmas recess. I am very grateful to Senators for their engagement. This legislation is stronger for the process it has gone through, notwithstanding the legitimate concerns that have been raised. It was important that I had the opportunity today to set out the work that is going on across government, particularly in the Department of Health, on the reform of the Mental Health Act and our view of what the common goal is. That goal is to have a single treatment of everybody under section 4 of the revised Mental Health Act in terms of their ability to access advanced healthcare directives. I thank Senators, Deputies and those in the advocacy groups. I look forward to getting this passed quickly through the Dáil and having it enacted and up and running in 2023.