Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise as I understand I missed amendment No. 63. I had to take an urgent call and I ask the Minister of State to consider the principle of the amendment in the Seanad.

I am speaking on amendments Nos. 66 and 69. Amendment No. 66 relates to what Deputy O'Dowd said. The issue of restraint of relevant persons is addressed by a reference to restrictions on decision-making representatives in previous sections of the Bill. We consider it imperative that the provisions permitting restraint of a person by a decision-making representative should be strictly construed and should explicitly require that the decision-making representative acts in a manner consistent with the principles of the Bill. The provisions should only allow restraint where this is the least restrictive measure to prevent harm. We consider that the definition of restraint as provided in previous sections should be extended and we consider it necessary that a specific provision be included in the section dealing with informal decision-making. We have dealt with this, and amendment No. 69 is similar.

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