C7

Section inserted by Citizens Information Act 2007 (2/2007), s. 5, not commenced as of date of revision.

F12[7D.— (1) A personal advocate assigned to a qualifying person under this Act shall—

(a) if appropriate, make or assist in making an application for an assessment under Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005 in respect of the person and assist, support and represent the person in accordance with the said Part 2 in relation to the application, assessment and service statement (if any) prepared in respect of the person,

(b) assist, support and represent the person—

(i) to apply for and obtain a social service or services specified in the application under section 7B(1) concerned or, if appropriate, in a service statement prepared in respect of the person, and

(ii) if the personal advocate considers it appropriate to do so, to pursue any right of review, reference or appeal to a body other than a court if the application for such service or services is refused,

and

(c) for the purpose of assisting the person to promote the best interests of his or her health, welfare and well-being, provide support or training or both to—

(i) the person, or

(ii) a member of the person’s family, a carer of the person or any other person, including a member of an organisation or group, who is actively involved in promoting the health, welfare or well-being of the person,

or both for so long as the personal advocate is performing functions under paragraph (a) or (b) in respect of the person.

(2) A personal advocate assigned to a qualifying person under this Act may, for the purpose of performing his or her functions, at any reasonable time enter any place where day care, residential care or training is provided for the person and make such inquiries in such place in relation to the person as he or she considers appropriate.

(3) F13[Subject to the Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018], a personal advocate assigned to a qualifying person under this Act may, for the purpose of performing his or her functions, do all or any of the following:

(a) obtain from a statutory body or voluntary body any information relating to the person that the personal advocate considers necessary;

(b) attend and represent the person at any meeting, consultation or discussion at which the interests of the person are being considered and which the person would have attended if he or she were not a qualifying person; and

(c) identify any person referred to in subsection (1)(c)(ii) who may assist the qualifying person.

(4) A statutory body or voluntary body that provides social services shall co-operate with a personal advocate in the performance of his or her functions.

(5) A person who by act or omission obstructs or hinders a personal advocate in the performance of his or her functions shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €2,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or both.

(6) Proceedings for an offence under this section may be brought and prosecuted by the Minister.

(7) Notwithstanding section 10(4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851, summary proceedings for an offence under this section may be instituted within 12 months from the date of the offence.

F13[(8) In this section—

‘application’, ‘assessment’ and ‘service statement’ have the meanings assigned to them respectively by Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005;

‘Data Protection Regulation’ means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016²³ on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation).]]