Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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767. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated timeline for publication of the codes of practice under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. [54865/22]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (the 2015 Act) is an important piece of legislation that represents significant legal reform. It 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.  

The Act will abolish the wards of court system for adults by repealing the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act 1871. Adults currently in wardship will transition to the new decision-making support arrangements on a phased basis over 3 years from the date of commencement. 

The Decision Support Service (DSS), which is the organisation that will operate the provisions of the 2015 Act, will respond to the complex decision-making needs of people with capacity difficulties. The DSS also has responsibility for developing and publishing a number of Codes of Practice, for which they undertook a period of consultation in 2021 and 2022.

The Programme for Government has prioritised the commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, and the finalisation of the codes of practice by the Decision Support Service is a key component of this process. To date, the Decision Support Service has made considerable progress in preparing the Codes of Practice necessary for the operation of the 2015 Act. These Codes of Practice will be published in advance of the commencement of the 2015 Act, as it will be amended.

The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022 has passed through the Dáil and recently passed Seanad Committee Stage on October 6th. Once this Bill has been enacted, the Government will move to quickly commence the 2015 Act thereafter.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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768. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated timeline for the publication of the court rules under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. [54866/22]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (the 2015 Act) is an important piece of legislation that represents significant legal reform. It 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.  

The Act will abolish the wards of court system for adults by repealing the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act 1871. Adults currently in wardship will transition to the new decision-making support arrangements on a phased basis over 3 years from the date of commencement. 

The Programme for Government has prioritised the commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, and the finalisation of the court rules is a key component of this process. The Courts Service has responsibility for developing court rules to support the commencement of the 2015 Act. Significant progress has been made to date in developing both Superior Court and Circuit Court Rules, however, finalisation of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022 is required before court rules can be completed, in order to make sure that the court rules accurately reflect the final shape of the legislation.

The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022 has passed through the Dáil and recently passed Seanad Committee Stage on October 6th. Once this Bill has been enacted, the Government will move to quickly commence the 2015 Act thereafter.

It is expected that the court rules will be available in advance of the commencement of the amended 2015 Act.