Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I know I am really pushing my luck, Chair, but I have one super quick question for Mr. Barry and Mr. Geiran. One of the points raised in the opening statement was that the Mental Health Commission, MHC, would inspect every community mental health service at least once every five years. This has been raised at other sessions on pre-legislative scrutiny as well. It would be hard to argue with that. It was also stated that there should be clarity on mental health services for all age groups and that the remit of the MHC would be extended in a number of areas. The IASW is not the only group to have suggested that. It is very welcome, but what I notice is that none of the groups so far has come up with any constraints around how those inspections and reports can be used. For example, the witnesses rightly say that the facilities should have a space for families so that they can meet in privacy, which is a very good point. I would not argue with that for a second but if we put that requirement in an inspection and a facility does not have it, considering that we are all living in the real world and we have a dearth of health facilities of this nature, have the witnesses considered that the Mental Health Commission needs to put some constraints on how the reports can be used so that they do not lead to closures or the removal of beds based on inspections?