Yesterday I said I would revisit some of the issues my family faced as my wife faced the end of her life. Helen was an extraordinarily strong person. Once diagnosed, she wanted to ensure that the family was unburdened with respect to making decisions for her. This brought about looking into two things in particular: the enduring power of attorney and the advance health declaration, AHD, form.

Today, I want to speak about the enduring power of attorney. Enduring power of attorney, EPA, is one of the most important legal documents a person can make. Under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, it allows someone to appoint a trusted person to manage their affairs if they lose capacity in the future. It is fundamentally about dignity, independence and preserving a person's voice in decisions that affect their life. I can assure the Members of the House that when you sit down with a family member to complete these forms, it is devastating stuff you have to deal with. You are talking about the end of life. Any one of us in this room can have a stroke in two minutes and be unable to make a decision ever again. Any one of us can find ourselves unconscious in a hospital and somebody has to make decisions for you. I come from a family of 11 and, God help us, if we had to make a decision for somebody it would take the United Nations to come in and find peace among us. It is a hugely important thing.

However, an enduring power of health form is quite complex. The process involves solicitors, medical assessments, prescribed legal forms, notification requirements and registration with the Decision Support Service, DSS, who I must say are extraordinary people when it comes to filling in this form. The safeguards are important, but they create a lengthy and often costly process for families. There are also significant medical requirements. Capacity must be assessed when the EPA is created and again when it is activated. The activation series can be really problematic. For somebody with dementia, two medical professionals are required to say the person no longer has capacity. A person with dementia can have no capacity now and in an hour's time they can have capacity. So, that creates a huge problem.

Most concerning are the practical barriers. The DSS is experiencing substantial delays, with applications taking months to process. The Law Society has warned that the system is struggling with activation numbers far below those under the previous regime and thousands of applicants are still awaiting completion. Costs can also run into several hundred euro before the EPA is even enforced. Only 8% of the population have an EPA in place. None of this is an argument for removing safeguards. These are about the essentials but when a system designed to protect vulnerable people becomes so slow, expensive and difficult that relatively few citizens have an EPA in place, we must ask whether the balance is right. We need a system that protects people while also making it easier for them to plan for their future. I urge the House to support measures to simplify the process, reduce the delays and ensure that decision support services are there and resourced.

I cannot begin to say how important it is. I see the Visitors Gallery is full today. I am speaking to those present today and about their friends and relatives. I cannot begin to explain how important it is to have an AHD in place and to have an EPA. When the time comes, which will come to us all, when you are incapable of making a decision on your own, it is vitally important that you have somebody you trust to make those decisions for you. The AHD form, which I will deal with tomorrow, is massively important when it comes to how you will be treated in the final days of your life. I cannot begin to explain the courage my wife showed as she faced the end of her life.

I pray she rests in peace and thank her for the strength she had as she departed.

I thank the Senator. Again, condolences on your sad loss.

I apologise for going over time.

You are grand. Anois, an Seanadóir Andrews.