Cork West Social Democrat TD Holly Cairns has expressed concern about a proposed “Assisted Decision Making Bill” saying she is “deeply worried”.
The Irish Examiner reported remarks made by the TD where she claimed “the bill is being rammed through, ignoring calls for a transparent and collaborative approach.”
The draft of the bill states that “the purposes of this Act, a person’s capacity shall be assessed on the basis of his or her ability to understand, at the time that a decision is to be made, the nature and consequences of the decision to be made by him or her in the context of the available choices at that time.”
Cairns continued:
“Crucially, the Government is allowing a process where a large number of unqualified people can make assessments of an individual’s capacity. For example, a bank teller could decide that a disabled person or an older person cannot have access to their own money,”.
It has been reported that the bill is intended to allow for the commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015.
The Assisted Decision Making Act means that where an individual is deemed to be unable to ‘adequately’ understand or respond someone may be appointed as a “co-decision-maker”.
The legislation states that this means a “suitable person who the appointer appoints under section 17 , to jointly make with the appointer decisions on the appointer’s personal welfare or property and affairs, or both, in compliance with this Part and regulations made under section 31”.
It further states that a “decision-making assistant appointer” means a person who has, under section 10 (1), appointed another person to assist the first-mentioned person in making decisions on the first-mentioned person’s personal welfare or property and affairs, or both, in compliance with regulations made under section 10 (4).
The legislation is designed to end the current ‘wardship’ system. Under the current system an adult could be taken into wardship if the courts were satisfied, on the basis of the medical evidence available, that the person was incapable of dealing with their own affairs.
The Law Society Gazette reported that:
“The proposed bill also includes measures related to the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Ireland – including legislating for the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission’s position as the national monitoring body for the convention.”
The report concludes, “The new law will also increase the public sector’s obligations for employing people with disabilities. from 3% to 6%.”
Bill: https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2015/act/64/section/3/enacted/en/html#sec3