47.— F47[(1) Subject to subsections (1A), (2) and (4), a specified person may act on behalf of another person in relation to the following matters under this Act:

(a) an application for a care needs assessment under section 7 and the giving of consent under section 7(13);

(b) a further application for a care needs assessment as referred to in section 8;

(c) an application under section 9 for State support;

(d) the giving of a notice to the Executive under section 24;

(e) a request under section 30 for a review;

(f) an appeal under section 32 against a decision of the Executive;

(g) the provision of any information that the Executive may request, and communication with the Executive, in relation to any of the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) to (f),

where that other person lacks capacity in relation to one or more of the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) to (g).]

F48[(1A) A specified person shall not act on behalf of another person in relation to any matter referred to in subsection (1) where that other person—

(a) is a ward of court and has a committee duly authorised to act with regard to that matter,

(b) has appointed a person to be his or her attorney under an enduring power of attorney, and—

(i) the attorney is not prohibited or restricted by the terms of the power from performing that matter, and

(ii) either—

(I) the enduring power of attorney has been registered under the Powers of Attorney Act 1996 and the registration has not been cancelled, or

(II) the Director of the Decision Support Service has accepted a notification of the enduring power of attorney under section 71C of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (in this section referred to as the "Act of 2015") and this acceptance is in force,

or

(c) the court has made a decision-making order under section 38(2) of the Act of 2015 which relates to that matter, or has made a decision-making representation order under that section conferring functions with regard to that matter on a decision-making representative.]

(2) The Executive may refuse to deal with a person purporting to be a specified person acting on behalf of a person to whom an application for State support relates (the relevant person) unless the first-mentioned person satisfies the Executive that the first-mentioned person is in fact a specified person acting on behalf of the relevant person.

(3) When the Executive refuses under subsection (2) to deal with a person purporting to be a specified person, it shall, not later than 10 working days after the refusal, give both the specified person and the relevant person notice in writing of the decision and the reasons for the decision.

(4) The Executive may refuse to deal with a specified person in respect of a relevant matter if the Executive is not satisfied that the specified person is acting in the best interests of the relevant person in respect of that matter.

(5) When the Executive refuses under subsection (4) to deal with a specified person in respect of a relevant matter, it shall, not later than 10 working days after the refusal, give the specified person and the relevant person notice in writing of the decision and the reasons for the decision.

(6) Subject to subsections (2) and (4), no provision of this Act shall operate to prevent the Executive from dealing with a specified person, and anything done by the specified person shall be binding upon the person on whose behalf the action was taken.

(7) In this section, “specified person”, in relation to a person, means—

(a) F49[…]

(b) F49[…]

(c) a care representative appointed pursuant to an application under section 21,

(d) where the person is a member of a couple, the other member of the couple,

(e) a F50[child] of the person who is not less than 18 years of age,

(f) F49[…]

(g) F49[…]

(h) a registered medical practitioner, a registered nurse or registered social worker.

F51[(7A) A person—

(a) who is acting as a specified person within the meaning of paragraphs (e) to (g) of subsection (7) immediately before the date of the coming into operation of section 102 of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022, and

(b) who, on or after that date, and but for this subsection, would no longer be able to act in light of the amendments to those paragraphs made by the said section 102 of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022,

may, notwithstanding the amendments effected to those paragraphs by the said section 102 of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022, continue to act as a specified person unless and until the person on whose behalf the specified person is acting becomes a person to whom subsection (1A) applies.]

(8) The F52[category of person who] may act as a specified person referred to in F52[paragraph (c)] of subsection (7) shall have priority over the categories of person referred to in paragraphs (d) to (h) of subsection (7) but a person referred to in F52[paragraph (c)] of such subsection may consent in writing to a person with lesser priority acting as a specified person.

(9) Subsection (1) shall not operate to permit a person—

(a) to act as a care representative unless that person is appointed as a care representative under section 21, F53[…]

F54[(aa) F55[…]]

(b) F55[…]