Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-26
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Michael McDowell (IND), National University of Ireland

I move amendment No. 1:
In page 3, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following:
“(a) in subsection (2) by substituting “4 years” for “3 years”,”.
The amendment proposes to amend section 54(2) of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 by substituting "four years" for "three years". I want to emphasise that the amendment is proposed by the Law Society. I have had the assistance of Áine Hynes, chair of the Law Society task force on mental health and capacity, and Dr. Brian Hunt, one of the policy directors in the Law Society.
To explain why the proposal has been made by the Law Society to me and by me to this House, the purpose of the amendment is to extend the deadline for the exiting of wardships by one more year. The Law Society believes that it is a far more straightforward approach than that which is being proposed by the Minister in section 1 of the Bill. The Law Society understands that if the Bill is passed in its current form, in the region of 1,400 cases would be listed in court over the Easter period prior to 26 April 2026, and that includes the Easter vacation. We are taking our own vacation in these Houses, but so are the courts.
The listing of some 1,400 cases for extension will, the Law Society said, result in an unnecessary burden on court resources, give rise to a very significant increase in legal costs and place further unnecessary stress and burden on wards and their committees. It said it will significantly impact on the ability of the wardship courts to hear the remaining cases for discharge. It says that in order to ground the extension in each of the 1,400 cases, affidavits as to the reasons for the extension would need to be filed prior to 26 April 2026 and it is very likely that it will not be logistically possible to case manage all of those cases prior to 26 April 2026.
It is easily foreseeable that this will result in legal challenges. I am sure the President of the High Court, Mr. Justice Barniville, will do his level best to ensure that there are not too many obstacles to the applications for extensions to be made. However, let us be clear about this. Unless there is some kind of agreement that practically no evidence or reasons are given, the process requires a paper trail and that paper trail involves affidavits setting out the circumstances. What the Law Society is saying is that a simple 12-month extension carries far less risk and entails far fewer legal costs, and that is the reason for its proposed amendment.
The Minister of State has said that the 2015 Act required a five-year review process and that she intends to accelerate that, and I am glad to hear that. I am also glad to hear what she said about consultation. However, Standing Orders 179 and 204 of the two Houses of the Oireachtas apply to all legislation, including this Bill. In principle, we will get a report on how this Bill has gone in a year's time, if it is pushed through. I am putting down that marker.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-26