Safeguarding Ireland welcomes commencement of new laws on assisted decision-making
Safeguarding Ireland has welcomed the commencement of new laws on assisted decision-making – which come into effect on Wednesday, 26 April.
Chairperson Patricia Rickard-Clarke said: “We have good laws – now we need culture change. The public and professionals need to get informed and put these laws into practice. Doing so will prevent and reduce adult abuse and uphold our rights”.
Key places to access more information are:
- the Decision Support Website at www.decisionsupportservice.ie
- the HSE web portal at www.assisteddecisionmaking.ie
- Sage Advocacy’s public information video Minding Your Marbles at www.sageadvocacy.ie.
Safeguarding Ireland will run a public awareness campaign on the Acts next month.
The legislation has guiding principles the most important of which is a presumption of capacity to make decisions. The law also places responsibility on health and social care professionals and legal, financial and public services to assist and support people’s decision-making, if they need it.
The Acts will be relevant to all families at certain times, and a very wide range of professionals and service providers in their routine work.
They are of particular importance for people who live with frailty, dementia, an intellectual disability, an acquired brain injury, or communicate differently – and close family and friends who support them.
The laws replace the much criticised ‘Lunacy Regulation Act’ of 1871 and the associated Wards of Court system. A review of all (approximately 2,000) Wards of Court will begin shortly and this process will continue for three years.
A new State Agency called the Decision Support Service (DSS) has been established and it is responsible for public awareness, to register decision support arrangements, to provide supervision and oversight and to resolve issues which may arise.
Some aspects of the law will take some time to come into effect, but the new legally-based structure for assisting decision-making applies from today.
This tiered structure includes:
- a Decision-making Assistant who a person can formally appoint to help but they still make their own decisions
- a Co-decision Maker who must be registered with the DSS and has authority to make a decision jointly with a person
- a Decision-Making Representative who is appointed by the Courts and has legal authority to make decisions, as specified by the court, on a person’s behalf.
Codes of Practice have been developed for professionals and service providers which must be adhered to. There are practical codes for Healthcare Professionals, Legal Practitioners, Financial Professionals and Financial Service Providers and Attorneys.
There is also a code for Independent Advocates (people who can be chosen to act on a persons’ behalf) and on Advance Healthcare Directives (a document setting out future healthcare treatment preferences).
Furthermore, Advance Healthcare Directives will have legal standing and Enduring Powers of Attorney are being refined.
The laws provide greater clarity on past confusion on ‘next-of-kin’, who have no legal standing to make any decision on a person’s behalf.
This Act was passed into law in 2015, subject to amendments in 2022 and commence today. During the intervening period necessary structures were put in place for delivering the laws in practice.