Mr. James Kelly:

We have had a back and forth engagement on this with our colleagues in Mental Health Reform. Our discussions have been pretty productive to date. It is an ongoing conversation in developing the final draft of the Bill.

On the issue of parity of esteem, the Ombudsman is open to anyone who accesses services through the HSE. Any person who wishes to make a complaint or have a complaint against the HSE investigated can do so regardless of whether it is for a disability service, mental health service or physical health service. At the moment, that is open to anyone who accesses services through the HSE on an equal basis regardless of what service is being accessed.

On mental health, the Inspector of Mental Health Services, which sits within the Mental Health Commission, has a significant role under the Act in terms of its functions and in meeting with anyone in a mental health facility who, during the course of an inspection, asks to meet with it. It is not exactly an independent complaints mechanism but, taken together, the inspector and the Office of the Ombudsman already perform a function similar to that which an independent complaints mechanism might perform.

As stated by Mr. Hempenstall, the conversation channel remains open. We met recently with Mental Health Reform and we will continue to meet with it on the development of the draft Bill. I am sure it will be a discussion that we will continue to have in the future.