How Ireland's Wardship system is similar to Britney Spears' conservatorship

Описание: Comparisons are being made between Ireland's Wardship system and a conservatorship that US singer Britney Spears has been under since 2008.

The US conservatorship made headlines around the world following a new documentary earlier this year.

There are currently some 2,500 adult wards in Ireland, but all these are due to be reviewed under a new system.

The Decision Support Service is set to be up and running next year to replace the Wards of Court system here.

Áine Flynn is director of the Decision Support Service. She told The Pat Kenny Show the piece of legislation that regulates it needs to be updated.

"There are certainly parallels, there are similarities between the conservatorship - which exists in Britney Spears case... and the system which operates here in Ireland.

"We have the Wards of Court system, which is principally operated under a very old piece of legislation called the Lunacy Regulation Ireland Act of 1871.

"So it's some 150 years in existence".

She says the system allows someone to make an application through the courts, mainly the High Court, for decisions to be made on behalf of someone who is perceived to lack capacity to do so.

"That could be something like the management of an inheritance or award of compensation, or a significant healthcare decision.

"The applicant is usually a family member, sometimes it's the HSE, and the court can then - following a medical assessment - make a finding that this is a person who's of unsound mind."

The court can then move into a decision-making role, with committees being appointed for the person at the centre of the case.

These committees are usually a person or people who are family members.