Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022

Amendment of section 42 of Principal Act

35. Section 42 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (1), by the substitution of “expenses as may be approved by the Director or otherwise provided for by way of regulations made by the Minister after consultation with the Director and with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and” for “expenses”,

(b) in subsection (2), by the substitution of “reasonable remuneration in accordance with regulations made under subsection (4)” for “reasonable remuneration”, and

(c) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (2):

“(3) Subject to subsection (4), where a decision-making representative is appointed by the court in the circumstances to which section 38(7) applies and—

(a) the court makes an order to which subsection (1) refers that the decision-making representative shall not be entitled to be reimbursed out of the assets of the relevant person in respect of his or her fair and reasonable expenses reasonably incurred in performing his or her functions,

(b) the court has not made a direction under subsection (2), or

(c) where paragraph (a) or (b) does not apply, but the assets of the relevant person are insufficient to pay the relevant reimbursement or remuneration, as the case may be,

the Director may—

(i) reimburse the decision-making representative in respect of his or her fair and reasonable expenses reasonably incurred in performing his or her functions as decision-making representative, or

(ii) pay such reasonable remuneration to the decision-making representative in relation to the performance of his or her functions as decision-making representative and which functions are carried out in connection with his or her trade or profession, or in other exceptional circumstances specified by the Director.

(4) The reimbursement of fair and reasonable expenses referred to in subsection (3)(i) and the payment of reasonable remuneration referred to in subsections (2) and (3)(ii)—

(a) shall be calculated in accordance with the methodology and any limits specified in, and

(b) shall be paid subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by,

regulations made by the Minister after consultation with the Director and with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and such regulations may also make provision for the circumstances in which the Director may authorise the reimbursement or payment, as the case may be, of expenses or remuneration in excess of the calculations or limits provided for in accordance with paragraph (a).”.