Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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That legislation is currently being worked on. We cannot have statutory home care until we have the legislative piece in place.

The other issue raised was that of an amendment relating to the mental health Bill. That legislation is very close to publication.

My expectation is that it will go to Cabinet on 2 July and be published that week. I want to introduce it on Second Stage in the week commencing 9 July. The minute the recess is over, after Second Stage we will be able to work it through the Dáil and Seanad. It is a lengthy Bill, comprising 180 heads and over 500 sections. It is the second most complicated piece of legislation that will ever be brought before the Dáil. The most important thing is that we get it right. We are just there.

I meet the Attorney General on a weekly basis to ensure the timelines do not slip any further. It is not that the timelines are slipping; rather, it is such a complicated Bill and is very legal and technical. Every time a clarification is needed, it has to go to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel's legal teams. That all takes time. The reason the Mental Health Commission was anxious for us to move this amendment was that the Bill will be more or less determined from September onwards. The commission wants to start recruitment immediately in regard to tribunals. It is a costly process. It wanted to make sure it could work ahead in relation to that.