Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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638. To ask the Minister for Health when Part 8 of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 will be fully implemented and all sections enacted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12911/19]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Part 8 of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 provides a legislative framework for advance healthcare directives (AHDs). 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.

Section 91 of the Act relates to the development of a code of practice to accompany the AHD provisions. On 17 October 2016 I established a multidisciplinary working group to prepare a detailed series of recommendations for the Director of the Decision Support Service (DSS), in relation to the code of practice under section 91(2) of the Act. In anticipation of the completion of that process, I commenced the remainder of section 91 on 17 December 2018 [S.I. No. 527 of 2018]. This will enable the Director of the DSS to progress the preparation of the code of practice on the AHD provisions, based on the working group’s recommendations, and in accordance with the specific process outlined in the Act. The multidisciplinary working group submitted its recommendations on the code of practice to the Director of the DSS on 21 December 2018.

Once completed the final code of practice can be published by the Director with my consent.

The development of the code of practice to accompany the AHD provisions is a key piece of work in facilitating the subsequent commencement of Part 8 in its entirety.