Ms Rosemary Smyth:

I will follow up on the regulation of mental health services. The Senator is right that our remit extends only to inpatient services in respect of enforcement and compliance of the services. We register them. Our remit does not extend beyond that, although the inspector has the right to visit anywhere a mental health service is delivered. We have no enforcement or powers beyond that. We have advocated and have recommended today that our powers be extended. It would give us more powers in being able to look and to address many of the members' questions, which we are not able to answer because we do not have the full picture of a pathway of a patient through mental health services. We are only looking at the 10% of people who are inpatients. We do not have oversight of the rest of the mental health services, where the majority of them are delivered. This is a deficit. There is no oversight of a patient's journey through mental health services provision.

The protection element is a very important piece of work. We see ourselves as safeguarding those who are the most ill and who require involuntary detention. Through our offices, we establish the tribunals to ensure their rights are upheld. It has been a very welcome provision for the people who have to go through that process that they are afforded those rights and protections.

The Senator asked about the critical issues outside of the health remit. Does he mean matters in the jurisdiction of other Departments?