Ms Rosemary Smyth:

I will respond to the Deputy's second question about meetings with the Minister. The board and chief executive officer of the commission meet the Minister on at least an annual basis and meet the officials from the mental health division in the Department on a quarterly basis. We addressed all of the matters we have raised today at our last meeting with the Minister. He advised of commitments in relation to staffing including putting assistant psychology posts into primary care and looking for consultant psychiatrists because we are finding those posts difficult to fill at the moment. Those were the Minister's priorities.

We also raised the governance issue with him prior to the appointment of the new director general. We spoke about the structures and, as Dr. McDaid said, we advocated for a national director for mental health and the national offices to be put back in position. We found that unit and the national director very helpful from a governance and accountability perspective and it is not as effective in the absence of that office. We addressed that with the Minister at our most recent meeting and he advised that he will allow the new director general to find his feet before discussions take place about that.

As Dr. McDaid said, we are expecting the legislation in June and very much welcome it. We have had two welcome legislative changes in recent times. One removed the unwilling treatment of people who are detained. People are no longer forced treatment against their will and we welcome that from the perspective of safeguarding and human rights. The most recent legislative change removed 12-month orders, so people can no longer be detained for that duration.

We table Vision for Change at all our meetings with the Minister. We have asked to be consulted about the refreshing of the policy and look forward to receiving a draft of that.