Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

If we are not to have legislation before the summer recess, the Government should do what it has legislative authority to do and bring the heads of the Bill to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service and let us have a reasonable debate so that at least the Oireachtas has the opportunity to shape the legislation.

I wish to ask about the mental health (amendment) Bill. While a newspaper editorial is not in order here, I read an editorial in The Irish Times which bears directly on this matter. Three years ago we had A Vision for Change. It was to be a programme for reform at the heart of which is this legislation. It is appalling that although this was launched with a welter of publicity, nothing has changed in the interim. The body that was to implement it is not in place. There is no implementation plan for it. If it were not for Deputies like Deputy Neville who have steadily kept this issue on the public agenda, it would disappear without trace. We need to have some clarity. When there is a Government strategy there should be some way of implementing it, a budget put in place and an implementing committee so that we can have some testing of the performance at the end of a year. This is unacceptable.

See this speech in context