Momentum is growing for substantial changes to the Enduring Power of Attorney process being administered by the Decision Support Service. This article looks at the parliamentary questions and newspaper coverage that has been seen of late.
23 April 2024
In response to a number of parliamentary questions from Deputy Pa Daly, the Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Anne Rabbitte, provided detailed information as to the quantity and status of applications to the DSS under various headings.
The full text of the parliamentary questions and answers can be accessed here.
I have written previously about figures supplied by the DSS in relation to EPA applications, and about the lack of clarity around those figures. See Roughly a quarter of EPA applications progressing to submission to DSS (15 March 2024).
It now appears that ‘active’ means that the application is on the DSS system and the statutory supporting documents have been generated, ‘submitted’ means that the application documents have been sent to the DSS for review and registration, and ‘approved’ means that the application has been reviewed and registered.
However, it is not clear whether the data for ‘active’ applications includes or excludes applications that have progressed beyond that point.
4 June 2024
In today’s Irish Times there is a story highlighting the ongoing dispute between the Law Society and the Decision Support Service, principally in relation to Enduring Powers of Attorney. The full article can be accessed here: “Legal care backlog amid Law Society and Decision Support Service dispute”.
Elsewhere, in the same edition of the newspaper, Dominic Coyle has written a detailed piece on the difficulties faced by those persons who wish to create an Enduring Power of Attorney. As Mr. Coyle writes in his article:
“Oh boy this is a mess.”
The full article can be accessed here: “Vulnerable people stuck in the middle of impasse over enduring power of attorney“.
Now, for readers of this site, there is nothing new in any of this. I’ve previously written at length about these issues on this site. See, for example:
- Controversy around Enduring Powers of Attorney (30 May 2023)
- A solution to the EPA problem? (1 Jun 2023)
5 June 2024
The Irish Times carries an article reporting in which Patricia Rickard-Clarke (a solicitor who is vice-chairwoman of Sage, the national advocacy service for older people, and also chairwoman of Safeguarding Ireland, which works to protect vulnerable adults from individuals, organisation or institutions) defended the new EPA regime.
As reported in the article:
“Ms Rickard-Clarke also defended the ‘digital-first’ approach of the new service, arguing that there was a need for an online register for such arrangements rather than a system where no one knew what documents rested in which solicitors files, or not.”
The full article can be accessed here: “Elder advocate defends new regime to protect rights of the elderly“.
7 June 2024
In a letter to the Irish Times, 63 legal practitioners (all members of the Solicitors Growth Network) called for an immediate change to the DSS online system to ‘enable a professional agent or adviser to access the system on behalf of a client to assist with the creation of the documentation and ensure it is done correctly’.
“This is a change that can and should be made immediately to end this crisis in the creation of enduring powers of attorney which is causing serious problems for vulnerable people who need to have them in place.”
The letter to the Irish Times can be viewed here.
11 June 2024
In response to a number of parliamentary questions from Deputy Catherine Connolly, the Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Anne Rabbitte, provided information as to the quantity and status of EPA applications to the DSS up to 5 June 2024.
On the issue of solicitors executing the EPA Legal Practitioner Statement, she said:
“I am advised that over 1200 completed EPA applications have been submitted to the DSS for registration, all of which include a legal practitioners’ statement. In approximately 75% of these applications, the donor has not retained a solicitor to make the EPA in its entirety but has still been able to take up a legal practitioner’s statement.”
On the issue of requiring applicants to have a MyGovID, she said:
“[T]he DSS provides an alternative for those who do not have, or prefer not to use, MyGovID. This alternative is a manual identity verification process. The DSS requires a photo ID and proof of address to complete this process. These can be submitted to the DSS using an online form, or through the post. The DSS will support a person to find a workable solution so that they can progress their application.”
On the issue of requiring interactions with the DSS to be conducted by digital means, she said:
“Approximately 90% of people using the DSS services do so via the online portal. However, where a person is unable to engage with the DSS digitally they can contact the DSS about taking up a paper form and receive instructions on how to complete the relevant process manually. The DSS offers support to help answer any questions in relation to completing the form, including how to navigate scenarios where the person may not have an email address or online access.”
The full text of the parliamentary questions and answers can be accessed here.