As mentioned in our last blog post from Cork, Minister Kathleen Lynch was in attendance at our UCC panel discussion and provided us with a statement about the Capacity Bill. The statement has been included in the following press release which was submitted to the Irish Times Irish Examiner, Irish Indpendent and journal.ie for publication.
***BEGINS***
Minister Lynch: The Capacity Bill Could Realistically Be Enacted by The End of 2015
Minister Kathleen Lynch has stated that the long awaited
Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Bill 2013, could realistically be enacted
by the end of 2015. As keynote speaker at a Capacity2Change event, held in UCC last
Thursday (February 26th,) the Minister also stated her receipt of
confirmation from Department of Justice Officials that “once the Child and
Family Relationships Bill goes through, the Capacity Bill will be next (to be
enacted)”. To this, she added her great hope that the bill could also come out
of committee stage by the summer recess.
Capacity2Change is an awareness campaign for the Capacity
Bill initiated by the Trinity and UCD Equality Officers for Young Fine Gael (Rachel
Kidd and Patricia Kenny). Its primary objective is to inform students of health
science and law about the Capacity Bill’s implications and the perceived urgent
need for its enactment.
The Capacity Bill is important in terms of its potential to
restore basic civil rights such as decision making power, marriage, land/asset
ownership and informed consent to people with reduced decision making capacity
– intellectual disabilities, psychiatric issues and dementia.
The Bill is set to reform the long outdated Lunacy Regulation
Act (1871) and replace the current Ward of Courts System with a continuum of
support – attuned to the needs of the individual. Other principle changes
include a move away from “best interests” practice, to practice that is in line
with the “will and preferences” of the individual.
Currently in Ireland, our laws create “a civil death” for
people with disabilities according to Piers Gooding a lecturer in The Centre
for Disability Law at NUIG and a guest
speaker at Thursday’s event. Due to the Lunacy Regulation Act (1871) the issue
of capacity is a key stumbling block in the courts. As a result cases are often
dismissed if a key witnesses has a
condition such as Down Syndrome. In the eyes of the current law they “lack
capacity” due to this condition regardless of the competency they may
show. Equally the judiciary are not
obliged to accommodate such witnesses with appropriate questioning.
Beyond civil rights, the bill also includes provisions for advanced
health care directives,“living wills”, as a means of preserving capacity at the
end of life. At an event held in UCD last November, Capacity2Change leader
Rachel Kidd, questioned Minister for Health Leo Varadkar about such provisions
to which the Minister stated he was in favour of “living wills” as something
with “great potential for patients and health care staff.”
For more information about Capacity2Change and the Capacity
Bill see www.capacity2change.blogspot.ie or email yfgcapacity2change@gmail.com
*ENDS*
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