Green light for long-awaited Decision Support Service launch

Additional Budget 2021 funding has given the green light to enable work for the long-awaited launch of the Decision Support Service (DSS) in 2022 to go ahead, Irish Medical Times reports.

The Director of the new service for people with decision-making capacity issues, Áine Flynn, confirmed that the new service was on track to open its doors in 2022.

She welcomed the news that the DSS would receive €5.8 million in 2021, an increase in funding of €2.3 million over last year’s budget allocation.

The DSS was established by the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. Although the 2015 Act was fully enacted, it had not been commenced.

Flynn advised that the 2015 Act was to have impacts across diverse sectors, including health, financial, legal, and social care. Doctors and other professionals were advised, if they had not already done so, to take the necessary steps to prepare for commencement.

The 2015 Act was to maximise autonomy for anyone requiring support to make decisions about their personal welfare, property, and financial affairs. Estimates suggest there could be as many as 220,000 adults in Ireland with capacity-related difficulties at any one time and who might become users of the DSS.

When the 2015 legislation is finally commenced, it is to abolish the current Victorian Wards of Court system, under the Lunacy Regulation Act of 1871, and replace it with a framework to maximise autonomy for people who require support to make decisions about their personal welfare, property and financial affairs.

“The 2015 Act is a long-awaited and reforming piece of legislation,” said Flynn. “Now that we have the additional resourcing, and an agreed plan for commencement, we are firmly on track to deliver this important human rights-based framework to the people of Ireland.”