Mr. James Kelly:

I might answer that question. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 is probably that which is most influential on our legislation. Unfortunately, it is very complex and I struggle to get my head around it sometimes. The provisions in the 2015 Act are probably the most important to the update of the Mental Health Act and to the idea of co-decision making and empowering people accessing mental health services.

Another important Act is the Child Care Act 1991. In the existing Mental Health Act, section 25, as I mentioned, deals mainly with the treatment of children and references the Child Care Act, which I understand is being reviewed by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. One recommendation of the expert group was to move all the cross-references to the Child Care Act into the Mental Health Act in order that if someone is reading the latter Act, he or she will not have to cross-reference it against other Acts and it will be as simple as legislation can be in that regard. We have included those provisions in the Bill but the Child Care Act is always useful to refer back to.

Finally, there is some reference in the Act to the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006, which came from the then Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. That is another Act it would be good to be familiar with.