Ardagh calls for simplification of enduring powers of attorney (EPA) application process system
Published on: 02 October 2024
Senator Catherine Ardagh has called for the application process for the enduring powers of attorney (EPA) system to be simplified, saying it is at “crisis point.”
An enduring power of attorney (EPA) is a legal device that can be set up by a person (the donor) to allow another person (an attorney), to look after their financial or personal affairs, in the event that they no longer have the capacity to do so themselves.
The Fianna Fáil Senator, who is a practicing solicitor, said: “According to the Law Society of Ireland, only a fraction of the 1,245 EPAs activated in the previous year have been activated since the new online system was introduced in April 2023.
“The new online system, the Decision Support Service (DSS), is complex and difficult to navigate, meaning it creates both unnecessary delays and uncertainty for vulnerable individuals.”
Senator Ardagh said the solution to this lies in simplifying the DSS through the introduction of a solicitor’s portal to access the system.
She said: “The DSS must be simplified because, even though it was intended to increase the number of people with EPAs, it has actually resulted in a collapse in the numbers being created in contrast with the old system.
“It is, in many cases, too complex for those vulnerable people with decreasing capacity who are in need of an emergency EPA.
"Legal kiosks to access the DSS could be introduced in libraries, helping those people to break the technological barrier they face when accessing the system themselves.
“The introduction of a solicitor’s portal to access the DSS, perhaps through the Law Society of Ireland, offers another solution to simplifying the system.
“Similar to how Revenue’s online ROS system allows a tax adviser to prepare and file returns for a taxpayer, a solicitor’s portal for the DSS would allow people who want help from their professional advisers in creating an EPA to get it by providing these advisers with access to the DSS on behalf of anyone wishing to have their assistance.
“It is important to have a more open and digital approach to the EPA process, but the current approach is causing serious problems for vulnerable people who need to have EPAs in place.”
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