Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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138. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when those parts of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 that provides for persons that have been brought into wardship to have their capacity assessed and brought under this new statutory framework instead will come into operation; and the reason for the delay in its commencement [31650/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 provides a modern statutory framework to support decision-making by adults with capacity difficulties. The Act was signed into law on 30 December 2015.

The specific decision-making supports available under the Act to adults with capacity difficulties are decision-making assistants, co-decision-makers and decision-making representatives who will be supervised by the Director of the Decision Support Service. New administrative processes and support measures, including the setting up of the Decision Support Service within the Mental Health Commission, must be put in place before the substantive provisions of the Act can be commenced. A high-level Steering Group comprised of senior officials from the Department of Justice and Equality, the Department of Health, the Mental Health Commission and the Courts Service is overseeing the establishment and commissioning of the Decision Support Service (DSS) and this work is ongoing.

The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (Commencement of Certain Provisions) Order 2016 (S.I. No. 515 of 2016), brought some provisions of Part 1 (Preliminary and General) and Part 9 (Director of the Decision Support Service) of the Act into operation on 17 October 2016. These provisions were brought into operation in order to progress the setting up of the Decision Support Service and to enable the process of recruitment of the Director of the DSS to begin. The recruitment and appointment of the Director of the DSS, and the appointment of DSS staff, is a matter for the Mental Health Commission (a body under the Department of Health) with the approval of the Minister for Health.

In relation to Wards of Court, the Act provides that adults currently in wardship will transition to the new decision-making support arrangements provided for in the Act on a phased basis over 3 years from the commencement of Part 6 of the Act. Once Part 6 is operational, each ward will be reviewed by the wardship court in accordance with the new system. A ward who is found to have capacity will be discharged from wardship. A ward who continues to have capacity needs will be discharged from wardship and offered the decision-making support option most appropriate to his or her needs. The new support options must be operational before the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act 1871 can be repealed and the transition from wardship can commence. In the interim, capacity cases will continue to be dealt with by the wardship court.

It is intended that the key preparations will be put in place during the remainder of this year under the oversight of the Steering Group to allow for commencement orders for the remaining provisions of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 to be made when the Decision Support Service is ready to roll out the new decision-making support options. It is not possible at the moment to provide an exact time line for the finalisation of these commencement orders, not least because we will need to have the Director of the DSS in place to fully ascertain the time-line. The post of Director was advertised by the Public Appointments Service on 7 April and it is expected that the Director will be in place during the summer.