Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas don Teach agus ba mhaith liom a rá go bhfuil áthas orm go bhfuil an t-ábhar seo á phlé againn inniu. Tá sé riachtanach go gcoimeádfaidh muid an t-ábhar seo, cúrsaí sláinte intinne, os ar gcomhair amach anseo. We know the plan for community-oriented multidisciplinary mental-health teams that will allow people to access treatment without hospitalisation, but it is not moving as efficiently as it should. Apart from the human advantages, there are also significant economic advantages. The money for mental health services has not always gone into mental health services, where we know it is needed.

There is a need for a system that would track the activities of community-based mental health services and funding. I draw the attention of the House to the report, published on 1 February, of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Mr. Juan Mendez, which looks at abuses in health care settings that may cross the threshold of mistreatment and be a form of torture or cruel and degrading treatment. In looking at mental health legislation within the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Mr. Mendez established that community living with support is no longer a favourable policy development but an internationally recognised right.

Community mental health services are not an established right in Ireland. While this was first proposed in 1984 and again in A Vision for Change in 2006, we are still awaiting the move from residential and institutional care to community care. While the policy in this regard has been in place for more than 30 years, it has not been the practice. I support the call by Amnesty International for legislation in this area to provide that health authorities are duty-bound to account for and ultimately deliver community mental health services. Mr. Mendez also calls in his report for legal provisions to be revised, which provisions currently permit detention on mental health grounds in mental health facilities and allow coercive interventions and treatments in mental health settings, without the free and informed consent of the person concerned. The report also calls for a ban on forced and non-consensual medical interventions for persons with disabilities, be that psycho-surgery, electric shock treatment, mind altering drugs, restraint or solitary confinement. I would like to know where we stand on these matters.

Another issue of concern is the status of the appointment of the director for mental health services and whether that person will have budgetary control and an implementation plan for delivery of A Vision for Change. I have previously tabled parliamentary questions to the Minister, Deputy Reilly, and Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, on staffing issues. Between March 2009 and December 2012, there was a 12.1% decrease in staff numbers in mental health services. We do not want a recurrence in 2013 of the delays which occurred in 2012. There must be visible accounting in terms of what is happening in terms of funding and staffing for mental health services.

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