Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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791. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the way in which her Department is working to improve the accessibility of the online power of attorney system (details supplied). [17299/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for their question regarding the online application process for Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs).

The Decision Support Service (DSS) has statutory responsibility for the operation of many of the provisions of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 including Enduring Powers of Attorney. The system of decision support arrangements was commenced in April 2023.

Since the commencement of the new system over 2,000 Enduring Power of Attorneys have been registered with the DSS, ensuring that persons have support structures of their choosing in the event of diminished decision making capacity.

While these numbers indicate robust engagement with the new system I am extremely conscious of the accessibility needs of persons seeking to access supports, particularly persons with disabilities and older persons.

Both my Department and the DSS have, since commencement of the service, engaged with stakeholders to understand and address issues arising in respect of the operation of the legislation, including in respect of EPAs. This includes an Inter Departmental Steering Group that meets to share information and collectively address issues arising regarding the implementation of the Act. On foot of stakeholder feedback the DSS has implemented a number of changes to improve the EPA application process, to reduce application processing times, and to address the accessibility needs of the users of the service.

In that regard in July of 2024 the DSS introduced an Accessibility Policy which includes a dedicated helpdesk service to ensure that individuals who require additional assistance in completing an online EPA application are supported in doing so. This enhanced helpdesk service, alongside helpful instructional videos and other guidance material provided on the DSS website, has already seen an increased volume of EPAs being registered, with over 1,500 being registered from July 2024 to the end of February 2025.

It is important to note that there remains a facility for manual applications to be submitted by those who cannot, for a variety of reasons, utilise the online application system. The accessibility policy sets out that the DSS will ensure individuals who are unable to utilize the online portal are facilitated in making an EPA application manually.

I encourage all adults to think about advance planning. Anyone requiring assistance in relation to making or assisting a donor to make an EPA is welcome to contact the DSS by phone at 01 211 9750 or by email at queries@decisionsupportservice.ie and its team will be pleased to help.