Assisted decision-making and disability convention
Deputy O'Loughlin urged commencement of the remaining parts of the Assisted Decision-Making Act and linked it to ratification of the UN disability convention. The Taoiseach said the Act had been enacted but further legislation, including the disability Bill, was still needed before ratification.
My question is on parts of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. It is of grave concern that the parts relating to the repeal of the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act 1871 and the review of the wards of court provisions have yet to be commenced. This is particularly important, given Ireland's ambition to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and support those who wish to make a living will so as to ensure that, if they are unable to make their wishes known at a later time, they can do so now. We need to examine this matter urgently.
Comment on this
The Bill that the Deputy referred to was enacted in 2015 and the disability Bill is awaiting Second Stage, as I understand it. We pointed out on a number of occasions that it would be necessary to put through a number of pieces of legislation before we could formally sign off on the ratification of the convention. I will advise the Deputy as to where the progress has been made. The Bill she referred to was enacted. Disability is another one of those elements that must be cleared by the Oireachtas before we can proceed to ratifying the convention.