Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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Ba mhaith liom i bharr fáilte a chur roimh an t-Aire go dtí an Teach inniu. That is my little bit for Seachtain na Gaeilge. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House today. This week the Joint Committee on Disability Matters heard very compelling advocacy from members of the disability committee in the National Women's Council of Ireland and from Amy Hassett of Disabled Women Ireland. It was really quite an extraordinary and very powerful meeting of the disability matters committee. Ms Hassett's statement included a reference to the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 and the fact that it has not commenced, while also noting elements of the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill and the Sign Language Act have not been enacted. I know the Cathaoirleach, in particular, has advocated for sign language. I appreciate the Minister of State is not here to talk about those matters, but I am sticking them in as a reminder.

I note that Inclusion Ireland highlighted that the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act states that everyone is presumed to be able to decide for himself or herself, unless the opposite is shown. That is important. The Act and the law set out ways to support people who lack capacity in making decisions. The Act also provides for a move away from the idea of best interests and a move towards a rights based decision-making capacity. It is designed to meet the standards of respect and the needs of persons with intellectual disabilities, for people with decision-making ability who have been affected perhaps by traumatic brain injury and for older people with diminished capacity or dementia.

I acknowledge the thrust of this Act is already in operation in the form of guidelines and great moves have been made in that regard. I have been involved in it from the privacy and general data protection regulation, GDPR, end, in training and in assisting people and ensuring their capacity is to the fore. Sage Advocacy has noted the commencement of this Act will also ensure that information is imparted in a way that people can receive it and are best informed and assisted in making their decisions.

We see the thrust of all our legislation. In the last year, in particular, since I have been in the Seanad and prior to that, I have noticed the move away from a paternalistic approach and very much towards the person who is most affected being party to a decision. We have seen many actions on the Statute Book that move in this direction and they are to be commended.

The difficulty here, and why it is particular to this week, is that women tend to survive to old age in greater numbers and can be particularly affected as a consequence. They disproportionately comprise an older age cohort and are more likely to be affected by diminished capacity as a result. There is a need for urgency in bringing in commencing this Act.

I believe that when it is commenced, we will need an information campaign to ensure everybody knows about it. I tend to get calls when people assume they have legal status as next-of-kin and do not quite understand the implications of enduring power of attorney and so on. When this comes in, it will be important because, naturally, if the decision-maker is the person most affected, he or she will have a power and agency not there heretofore. I would urge that is noted also.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising the issue of the commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 and its importance for women with disabilities.It also shows the relevance of the newly formed Committee on Disability Matters when we are getting into the nuts and bolts of discussing persons with disabilities and, on International Women's Week, bringing in such groups to show the impact of not having the proper legislation in place and how it is restraining them. I acknowledge that its commencement will benefit women with disabilities who have capacity difficulties and I assure the Senator that everything is being done to ensure the commencement of the Act by June of next year.

The Act is very important legislation that changes the existing law on capacity from the status approach of the wardship system to a flexible functional approach, whereby capacity is assessed on an issue and time specific basis. This addresses everything the Senator has spoken about. It will abolish the wards of court system for adults by repealing the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act 1871. Adults in wardship will transition to the new decision-making support arrangements on a phased basis over three years from the date of commencement.

The Government made a commitment in the programme for Government to commence the Act, recognising the importance of the much-needed reform it represents. The delays in commencement of the Act arise from two principal factors. The decision support service, which will operate the progressive provisions of the Act, has yet to become operational. It will then be able to respond to the complex decision-making needs of people with capacity difficulties. Amendments are also required to the Act before full commencement can take place. Work is actively taking place on an assisted decision-making (capacity) (amendment) Bill, which we expect to have enacted by year end. These amendments will streamline the processes in the interests of those using its provisions. They will also strengthen the safeguards included in the Act.

Some provisions of the Act have been commenced to enable the recruitment of the director of the decision support service, the establishment of a multidisciplinary working group on advance healthcare directives and, most recently, on 1 February, the repeal of the Marriage of Lunatics Act, which means that a ward can now marry if she or he has capacity to do so.

The decision support service has made considerable progress in putting in place the administrative and IT systems needed to operate the Act. To this end, a budget of €5.8 million was secured to help fund the decision support service. A high-level steering group, chaired by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, meets monthly to oversee and drive progress towards full commencement. The steering group comprises senior officials from the Department of Health, the Mental Health Commission, the Courts Service, and the decision support service. This is in recognition of the fact that successful operation of the Act will involve multiple stakeholders. It is working towards commencement of the legislation in June 2022, with the decision support service opening for business immediately thereafter. To be honest, all of the heavy lifting is being done at the beginning so that when the Act is commenced the decision support service will be open and ready for operation, with the staff in place and the ICT system ready to run.

I recognise the frustrations of all the groups that have come, and will come, before the Committee on Disability Matters. They will tell us how this is restraining them. However, the Senator now has a good understanding of the work being done. It is also important that we develop robust systems in the decision support service that respond adequately to the needs of those with capacity difficulties and of their families. I am confident that the time that we devote now to getting this process right will give us a person-centred approach and will pay dividends in the end.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. It is very heartening that we have a locked down timeframe. It is really good. It is also really good to hear of the monthly meetings of the steering group. One of the things I really regard and respect in the Act is the complete abolition of the horrible names of the Acts of the past. We both recoiled, the Minister of State in saying them and me in hearing them. Moving to that place of absolute respect for the integrity of the individuals and their rights to make decisions about their lives is to be welcomed. I thank the Minister of State.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I assure the Senator that everything that can be done is being done and we have a timeframe and it will be measured. At the end, it is all about communication and it is exactly about how we can empower people so it is completely person centred.Believe it or not, this is the only Commencement matter I will be taking that is from my brief. In this women's week, I also acknowledge the disabled women who were before an Oireachtas committee. There was a fantastic hashtag used on Twitter, which was #DisabilityIsNotADirtyWord. I commend them on this and it got many people talking during the week. They also asked some poignant questions. I compliment the disabled women's group for bringing disability to the forefront this week.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I note the Minister of State is replying to all the Commencement matters today, which is unprecedented. I thank her on behalf of the Seanad for taking time out of her busy schedule to come here to reply to the six matters today.