Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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93. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will amend the Electoral Acts to repeal the prohibition on a person of unsound mind from standing for election to the national Parliament and the European Parliament. [56526/21]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Electoral law provides that a person of unsound mind is disqualified from seeking election to the Dáil or European Parliament and from membership of Seanad Éireann. This provision was to have been repealed by the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016. However, that Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the last Dáil.

The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill, which is being progressed by my colleague Minister Roderic O’Gorman T.D., Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, is being used to advance a number of legislative provisions necessary to ensure compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) that were previously included in the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016, including the repeal of the unsound mind provision in electoral law.

Work is actively taking place on the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill by Minister O'Gorman, which is expected to be published and enacted in the New Year.