Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for my change of plans. I felt that this was too important to miss and because I was scheduled to speak first, I decided that I could put aside my personal matter.

My points are mainly for MHR because I want to focus on the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022, which is currently on Committee Stage in the Seanad. In the context of preparing for Committee Stage, I have had numerous conversations with people with psychosocial disabilities, whether or not they accept that, and I am disturbed by their life experiences. Consequently, I am anxious about the fact that the Bill will further perpetuate the suspension of the advance healthcare directive, AHD, for people who come within that category of disability. When queried, the Minister aligns it to a necessity for reform of the Mental Health Act with it. While that is laudable and much-needed, MHR mentioned a deadline of 2023 and that is the first I have heard of a date being given. Can I clarify in the first instance whether that is the date that MHR is proposing or has it some reason to believe that otherwise? I have not been given any sort of a deadline when I have inquired about it. That is an important feature.

I am aware of the experiences of people with psychosocial disabilities finding themselves in a situation of either voluntary or involuntary detention and suggestions are made to them that in any other context I would consider coercive control where women are reminded of their duties to their children and the potential for a medical practitioner to contact Tusla and raise child protection issues. No matter how harmlessly that is being said, there is no way to experience that other than as a dangerous threat. Such issues are within this sphere and do not get enough attention. I am mindful of the audience listening to this and feel a huge responsibility to be as careful as I can in my choice of words, but we need to expose what is potentially happening.

A number of weeks ago a "Panorama" programme was aired that featured secret filming in the UK. Coincidentally, in the same week the Mental Health Commission issued a statement about restrictive practices that included disturbing figures for the time people spent in isolation with one instance of more than a year. We are not exploring or exposing issues like that. We are not speaking enough about the fact that a psychosocial disability does not remove a person's human rights.

When the Act is commencement, it would be a real risk we have. As it is not stitched in and not embriodered fully into the Act, that could happen. We have been looking for that legislative amendment but unfortunately it has not yet been incorporated. psychosocial disability does not remove one's human rights so I applaud the work, especially by Mental Health Reform, in speaking up. What more can politicians do? I am aware of the time so I will stop speaking there, apologies.