John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Again, I fully appreciate the Deputy's concerns, and I do not say that purely for the sake of window dressing regarding where Deputy Kathleen Lynch is coming from. This matter was also raised in the Seanad and, again, Deputy Lynch raised it on Committee Stage. I cannot accept the amendment, however, and I will explain why.

Section 13 of the 2006 Act, as amended by this Bill, and the new section 13A will give the Mental Health (Criminal Law) Review Board the power to order the conditional discharge of patients. We all welcome that. The point at issue is that it will be for the judgment of the clinical director - it is important that the House is given clarity from my side on this - whether a person should be returned to the designated centre for further review by the review board. To be fair, the problem appears to lie in the terminology to be used in effecting this reality.

It is important to note that section 13B(2) requires the clinical director to have reasonable grounds for his or her belief that the person is in breach of a condition of the conditional discharge and either there is a likelihood of the person causing serious harm or the person is in need of inpatient care or treatment. That is the kernel of this part, I believe. In accordance with section 13B(1), the conditional discharge is deemed to be revoked where the person is in material breach of the order. In other words, the review board will subsequently decide, after the person is returned to the designated centre, whether to again discharge him or her conditionally or detain the person. It is important to make the point that the latter initiative is a safeguard to ensure the protection of the person in material breach of the conditional discharge.

The difficulty with the amendment is that it would actually remove the definition of the term "material breach". The clinical director must determine on foot of such a material breach whether there are sufficient grounds for detaining a person or if a conditional discharge may again be allowed.

If the amendment were to be accepted, it would unravel the structure of the section as a whole. In other words, if the terminology were to change, this would be the effect. Section 13B can and will work effectively in its current form and for that reason I cannot accept the amendment. Clearly, the Deputy made a very strong case on Committee Stage. We consulted the Attorney General and that is the advice we got, which I am prepared to accept.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

See this speech in context