Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and his team for their presence. I thank Ms Mary Lindsay and congratulate Mr. Tony O’Brien on is appointment. I wish to comment on medical cards. I understand that the number of discretionary medical cards has been increased but that must be expected due to the state of the economy. I disagree that it is no more difficult now to be awarded a discretionary card than it was previously due to the fact that a number of people who had been awarded discretionary cards under review had them removed, even though their circumstances did not change. In fact, in many cases, they were worse off.

Sometimes, when one is aware that people cannot afford to take their medication and one makes a call to the call centre, those who answer the calls are lovely. They give as much information as possible that is before them on the screen but if one needs to speak to someone with more authority or who has the ability to overturn a decision, in many cases, nobody calls one back. That is unacceptable. It is not only on the rare occasion that one does not get a response to a call, it happens quite often and it is most frustrating.

With regard to the questions I asked, Nos. 24 and 26, I thank the Minister for his response. There are some positive developments in the area of community mental health teams but the question answered was not the one I asked. The Minister is correct in stating that there are no legal requirements for a perinatal psychiatrist to see a woman who has presented as suicidal in order for her to have a termination but that is not to say there is no medical need for further perinatal psychiatric treatment. The Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, mentioned the developing clinical programmes but can the Minister tell the committee whether he believes the existing three perinatal psychiatrists are adequate to cope with the demand for their services and treatment? Also, will the Minister outline the current provision of prenatal psychiatric services and whether there are any plans to expand those?

With regard to question No. 25, I thank the Minister for his comprehensive and well thought-out reply, which was primarily about the provision of services, the number of teams and staffing levels but that is not the question I asked. The question I asked was to do with the issue of regulations, rules and codes of practice, and the way procedures are followed. The data show that between 2011 to 2012, levels of compliance in approved centres nationally decreased for seven of the nine articles of the 2001 Mental Health Act relevant to codes of practice, and increased for the other two articles. The report also outlines a number of other areas in which such regulation has failed. What action is the Minister taking on foot of that?

With regard to the mental capacity legislation, it was to be brought before the Cabinet before the end of June. Has that happened and, if not, will the Minister give us a timeframe for that?