The High Court has discharged an anonymised woman from wardship and appointed a decision-making representative to assist with decisions about her health, personal welfare, property and affairs.
In a ruling delivered on 10 April 2024, Mr Justice Heslin declared under section 55 of the Assisted Decision Making Capacity Act 2015 that the respondent lacked capacity in those areas even if a suitable co-decision-maker were available. He appointed Edel O’Connor as her decision-making representative and ordered that the woman be discharged from wardship and her affairs managed with that support.
The judgment says the respondent was born in 1991, came to Ireland in 2016 through a UNHCR settlement programme and was admitted to wardship in December 2019. It reports that she sustained a head injury as a young child in an explosion and was later diagnosed with an acquired brain injury and dysexecutive syndrome. The court’s account says her condition is permanent.
A consultant psychiatrist assessed her in October 2023. The evidence described difficulty understanding and using information about healthcare, welfare and finances, and said she lacked capacity in those areas even with co-decision support. A second psychiatrist’s February 2024 report was described as consistent with that assessment. The judgment also records that no second opinion was sought and no issue was raised with the psychiatrist’s views after the respondent was notified of the recommendations.
The court said efforts to identify a suitable representative from the respondent’s family had not succeeded, and that meaningful engagement with her on the appointment was not possible. It approved the nomination of O’Connor, described in the judgment as a qualified nursing professional, solicitor and mediator with experience in advocacy for vulnerable people.
The orders include a prohibition on publishing material likely to identify the respondent. The representative may receive the pleadings and the respondent’s assets as detailed in the application, must account to the Decision Support Service, and is not entitled to remuneration or expense reimbursement from the respondent’s assets. The respondent’s Department of Social Protection payment is to continue directly to her; the representative must review that arrangement and the relevant account balance within 12 months.
The court ordered a review of the respondent’s capacity no later than three years from the order. It said the decision would not alter her day-to-day support at her Nua Healthcare placement. The judgment concerns discharge from wardship and the appointment of a representative; it does not purport to end the separate inherent-jurisdiction arrangements made in March concerning detention and management at the placement and in the community.