Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015
The Alzheimer Society of Ireland wants to make dementia a policy priority for Government and to ensure there is a commitment of resources to dementia care. Our policy work includes, making keeping track of and influencing relevant legislation. You can find out more about some of the key legislative areas impacting on dementia care currently in Ireland.
Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015
The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 was signed into law on 30th December 2015 and commenced on the 26th April 2023. The Act is about supporting decision making and maximising a person’s capacity to make decisions. It allows people to make legal agreements on how they can be supported to make decisions about their welfare, property, and affairs.
The Act established new decision-making arrangements to support people who have difficulty making decisions. makes a number of important changes to Irish law about what happens when people have difficulty with decision-making. These arrangements are;
- Decision-making assistance agreement
- Co-decision-making agreement
- Decision Making Representation order
- To go from one agreement to an agreement with more support, a new agreement must be completed and registered with the DSS.
- The Act also enables someone to plan for a time when they lose capacity. These are known as Advance Healthcare Directive and Enduring Power of Attorney.
The Decision Support Service is a new service that was established under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. It is an information service and it is where the decision support arrangements are registered and checked.
For further information:
- Contact the Decision Support Service on 01 211 9750 or email [email protected]
- Read our resource: I have dementia…How do I Plan for the future?
- The Think Ahead website also provides information to help you to put your legal and financial affairs in order. For more information visit: www.thinkahead.ie
- Contact our National Helpline at 1800 341 341 or email [email protected]