Conference Chairperson & Opening Remarks

Mary Kirwan, Barrister & Lecturer at RCSI

Capacity Evidence Under the Microscope: Why Courts Are Pushing Back

Speaker: Peadar Browne, Managing Solicitor, Dublin Assisted Decision-Making Service

• Common deficiencies in Functional Capacity Assessments attracting judicial criticism
• The limits of global or template findings in decision-specific applications
• Court expectations around evidence of supports, options and alternatives
• How weak capacity evidence undermines otherwise well-intentioned applications
• Practical steps to reduce evidential and litigation risk

Inherent Jurisdiction Orders

Speaker: Patricia Rickard-Clarke, Solicitor & Chair of Safeguarding Ireland

• Increased reliance on inherent jurisdiction following the end of wardship
• Proposed Protection of Liberty Safeguards
• Use of IJOs in designated centres for detention, treatment and restrictive practices
• Interaction between IJOs and formal decision-support arrangements
• Legal and safeguarding risks for service providers
• Whether current patterns are sustainable under judicial scrutiny

Will and Preference vs Safeguarding: Where the Line Is Now Being Drawn

Speaker: Martina Larkin, Legal Support Unit Lead, Sage Advocacy

• Balancing autonomy and safeguarding in the context of the Guiding Principles
• Identifying risk and sharing responsibilities
• Supervision, amendment or issues arising in decision support arrangements
• Safeguarding from a legislative and policy perspective
• The voice of the Relevant Person

Life After Wardship: What Has Replaced It in Practice?

Speaker: Síona Molony BL, The Law Library

• How cases are being managed now that wardship has formally ended
• Use of Part 5 and Part 6 applications in complex or high-risk situations
• Managing settlements, compensation and funds post-wardship
• Gaps, delays and unintended consequences emerging in the new framework
• Where accountability now lies for long-term decision-making

Assisted Decision-Making in a Health and Social Care Context: Some Practice Issues

Speaker: Caoimhe Gleeson, General Manager at the HSE National Office for Human Rights and Equality Policy

• Exhausting least restrictive options- examples of practice:
  • Using the HSE National Consent Policy
  • Specified persons under the Nursing Home Support Scheme
  • Patient Private Property Accounts
  • Agency arrangements and AG3
• Exhausting less restrictive tiers of support
  
  • Co-decision-makers and Decision-Making Assistants
• When substituted decision-making supports may be necessary
• Avoiding broad orders and decisions
• Promoting advance planning

Supervision of Decision Support Arrangements: Reporting Duties, Supports and Safeguards

Speakers: Kate Frowein, Head of Supervision & Patsy Fitzsimons, Head of Complaints & Investigations of the Decision Support Service

• Kate Frowein, Head of Supervision:
  
  • Reporting requirements and supervision of decision supporters
  • Observations on experiences and challenges of decision supporters to date

• Patsy Fitzsimons, Head of Complaints and Investigations:
  
  • Grounds of Complaint
  • Complaints and Investigation Process
  • What happens if a complaint is well-founded?

Cross-Border Complexity the Act Did Not Fully Resolve

Speaker: Aisling Mulligan BL, The Law Library

• Enforceability of Irish arrangements outside the State
• Managing overseas property, assets and financial institutions
• Northern Ireland considerations in a post-wardship context
• Limits of international recognition and cooperation
• Practical strategies to reduce exposure

What Comes Next: Litigation Trends, System Strain and Reform Pressure

Speaker: Nora Maguire BL, The Law Library

• Early post-wardship litigation themes
• Areas of the Act under sustained judicial scrutiny
• Pressure points likely to drive future reform
• Preparing organisational policies for the next phase
• Building defensible decision-making frameworks