Ms Orla Keane:

The first point to make is that there is a new Part. Equally, the commission made several recommendations in this context. My colleague, Mr. Kiernan dealt with the issue of having children only detained in child centres. This, however, comes back to the resourcing argument. If the proper facilities were available, then children would not need to go into adult facilities. Therefore, the key issue is that more funding is required to ensure there is true parity in the mental health services.

The new Parts in the legislation include things like separate provisions for children under 16, and 16 or 17 year olds with mental health issues being treated in parity with 16 and 17 year olds with general health issues. It is also very important that statutorily required information be given to children who are 16 and 17, which is not in the Act, and that the provisions for mental health be separated from the childcare legislation. Currently, it is a quagmire going through section 25 of the Act and trying to cross-reference all the various sections of the childcare legislation. Everything should be included in the mental health Act, with everything a parent or guardian needs to look at clearly set out. There should be specific codes of practice about user guides that must be provided by approved centres. In all section 25 applications for involuntary detention, children should have the right to access to legal representation. That will be a new provision. We set out a number of these provisions in our previous statement to the committee in November. I will ask Mr. Kiernan to respond on the specific issue of children being detained in adult centres.