Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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256. To ask the Minister for Health the timescale for the full commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, in particular Part 8 of the Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44191/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act was signed into law on 30 December 2015. The Act provides a modern statutory framework to support decision-making by adults with capacity difficulties, and the commencement of the greater part of this Act is the responsibility of the Department of Justice and Equality.

The commencement of Part 8 of the Act, which provides a legislative framework for advance healthcare directives (AHDs) is a matter for my Department. An AHD is a statement made by a person with capacity setting out his or her will and preferences regarding treatment decisions that may arise in the future when he or she no longer has capacity.  

Under section 91 of the Act, the Minister for Health is responsible for the establishment of a multidisciplinary working group to assist in the development and preparation of the Code of Practice for the AHD provisions of the Act. I established this multidisciplinary working group on 17th of October 2016 under section 91(2) of the Act. The role of the working group is to prepare a detailed series of recommendations for the Director of the Decision Support Service, in relation to codes of practice and this process is ongoing. The Director will subsequently prepare a Code(s) of Practice and will submit it to me for my approval and, with my consent, the Director will then publish the Code of Practice.   

The preparation of the Code of Practice will facilitate the subsequent commencement of Part 8 of the Act, pertaining to AHDs, in its entirety.