Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To refer back to Mr. Farrelly, he spoke about the integration of the community settings and services and that he sees change and hopes for more change. I would be remiss if I did not mention this, even while we are talking about legislation to improve things - I want to refer to the Mental Health Commission's report, it can be anyone aged 16 onwards - we are still facing the prospect of closing mental health beds in community settings. They are doing it in my town of Midleton. It is ludicrous that we are being told that these services, once the numbers are gone that these services will never be needed again. I keep going back to this optional protocol, because those people have rights and this is a rights-based issue.

If a place is not appropriate, then some other place that is appropriate should be found or the one that they are in should be improved. Would that solve that problem without making any legislation complicated?