Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

I am absolutely furious at the way this matter is being handled by the HSE and its treatment of these patients. I am of the view that this is possibly illegal and it is certainly immoral. It is completely unprofessional to lump five women into a unit which already caters for six patients. During the period of their incarceration they will have the use of a single toilet. Part of the difficulty is that Unit O, where these patients are being incarcerated, is a locked unit and the Mental Health Commission previously deemed this unit to be unsuitable and not fit for purpose. These five patients are being told they cannot use their mobile telephones during the Christmas period. I wonder who made this decision. Are these women five patients or five prisoners? From my voluntary work over the years I know how important matters such as a routine, consistency and familiarity are for patients undergoing treatment and in particular for those undergoing mental health treatment.

The Mental Health Act 2001 has two main features, the promotion and maintenance of quality standards of care and treatment which are regularly inspected and properly regulated. The primary function of the Mental Health Tribunals established under the Act is to ensure the protection of the rights of patients detained involuntarily. These five patients, in my view, are being detained involuntarily. If a person is detained and treated in a hospital against his or her will, this is not complying with human rights. If this is the case, the Mental Health Act must be urgently updated and amended. The information that patients are being moved from their home, Unit 3B, to a locked unit is completely unacceptable. I ask whether this action contravenes the Mental Health Act.

In advance of any Dáil question I will table, I ask who made the decision and on what basis. Was a consultant involved in the decision? Could this action result in a complaint to the Medical Council if this decision was endorsed by a consultant? For the sake of a paltry few bob, I ask the Minister of State to direct the HSE to provide staff for the welfare and comfort of these patients in their own unit during the Christmas festivities. I am very conscious that we have a caring a Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and disability who has inherited the restricted circumstances from a previous Administration. I ask her in the few days leading up to Christmas to ask the HSE to exercise some flexibility.

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