Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I was very concerned because it seemed the issue had been referred back to individual Departments to be buried. This issue is all the more relevant having heard over the weekend about the case of an advocate for persons availing of mental health services who had made public comments and found herself out of a job. I was happy to hear on the radio on the way here that she had been reinstated. This shows there is still an attitudinal problem among senior management in many public sector offices. Had she praised the service offered on Christmas Day to those clients, what happened to her would not have happened, but she spoke the unvarnished truth. I, therefore, encourage the Minister to act on this matter as soon as possible. When the legislation is being changed, I ask him to put in place measures to seek to change attitudes in the system. That is equally important.

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