Assisted Decision-Making Capacity Act 2015: What Irish Families Need to Know
Assisted Decision-Making Capacity Act 2015: What Irish Families Need to Know
If you are helping an aging parent manage their affairs in Ireland, this single piece of legislation shapes nearly every decision you will make. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 — which fully commenced on 26 April 2023 — replaced the Lunacy Regulation Act of 1871 and abolished the Ward of Court system entirely.
That is not just a legal footnote. It fundamentally changed how Ireland treats adults who are losing or have lost mental capacity, and it directly affects your options as a family caregiver.
The Core Shift: From "Best Interests" to "Will and Preferences"
Under the old system, courts and professionals decided what was "best" for a vulnerable person. The new Act flips that approach. The statutory obligation is now to uphold and facilitate the person's will and preferences — what they actually want, not what someone else thinks is good for them.
This means your parent's autonomy is legally protected even when their capacity is declining. An unwise decision does not, on its own, prove a lack of capacity. And capacity is no longer all-or-nothing: your parent might lack the capacity to manage a complex property sale but still retain the capacity to choose where they live or what they eat.
The Five Tiers of Decision Support
The Act creates a graduated system — five distinct arrangements matched to different levels of need:
Tier 1: Decision-Making Assistance Agreement (DMAA). For situations where your parent still retains capacity but needs help gathering information, understanding options, or communicating decisions. The assistant cannot make decisions for them. DSS notification fee: €15.
Tier 2: Co-Decision-Making Agreement (CDMA). When capacity is starting to decline and your parent needs a trusted partner to make decisions jointly. Both parties must agree on every decision covered by the agreement. Registration fee: €90. Annual reporting to the DSS is mandatory.
Tier 3: Decision-Making Representation Order (DMRO). If your parent has lost capacity entirely and has no EPA in place, the Circuit Court appoints a representative to make specific decisions on their behalf. This is the most expensive and restrictive option — court applications typically cost €5,000 to €10,000 in legal fees. The representative's powers are strictly limited to what the court order specifies.
Tier 4: Advance Healthcare Directive (AHD). Created while your parent has capacity, this covers future healthcare treatment preferences — including legally binding treatment refusals. It does not cover financial or property decisions.
Tier 5: Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA). Also created while capacity is intact, this allows your parent to appoint attorneys to manage their finances, property, and personal welfare if they later lose capacity. Registration fee: €30. Activation fee: €90.
The Presumption of Capacity
One of the Act's most important protections is the statutory presumption that every adult has capacity until the contrary is proven through a functional assessment. This assessment looks at whether the person can:
- Understand the information relevant to the decision
- Retain that information long enough to make the decision
- Weigh the information as part of the decision-making process
- Communicate their decision (by any means)
The assessment is issue-specific and time-specific. A person might pass the test for one decision on Monday and fail it for a different, more complex decision on Thursday. This granularity protects people from having all their rights removed at once.
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What Happened to Wardship
The old Ward of Court system has been abolished for adults. Approximately 2,000 people who were wards before April 2023 are being transitioned to modern arrangements under the Act. The courts review each case and move the person to whichever tier of support is appropriate.
The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2026 extended the deadline for completing all wardship transitions to October 2027. If your family member is still a ward, their case will be reviewed before that date.
Why This Matters for Families
The practical impact comes down to timing. If your parent currently has capacity, the Act gives you two powerful planning tools: the EPA and the Advance Healthcare Directive. These are relatively affordable and keep control within the family.
If your parent has already lost capacity and has no EPA, the Act's only option is the court system — a Decision-Making Representative order. That means higher costs, longer timelines, and less family control over who gets appointed.
The window for proactive planning closes when capacity is lost. It cannot be reopened.
How to Act on This
The most practical step for most families is setting up an Enduring Power of Attorney while their parent is still able to understand and consent to the arrangement. The Enduring Power of Attorney and Decision Support Guide for Ireland walks you through the full process under the Act — from choosing attorneys and navigating the MyDSS portal to coordinating the mandatory GP and solicitor appointments. It covers all five tiers, so you can identify which arrangement fits your parent's current situation.
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Download the Enduring Power of Attorney and Decision Support in Ireland — Quick-Start Checklist — a printable guide with checklists, scripts, and action plans you can start using today.