Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the same issue. I have received a considerable amount of correspondence about this part of the legislation. I spoke earlier to the legislation before it went to the Seanad. However, this issue has only arisen because of the change made latterly by the Government. Groups such as the Centre for Disability Law and Policy in NUI Galway, the National Disability Authority, Inclusion Ireland and many civil society and stakeholder organisations that have an interest in the legislation have all expressed dismay that instead of it being dealt with as a legal issue by the Department of Justice and Equality, it has been switched to the Mental Health Commission. In addition, the service will now not be an independent statutory body with reporting responsibilities to the Department of Justice and Equality. Obviously, this matter was discussed in the Seanad and the Minister of State spoke about it. I read the transcript and get the impression that she is a little embarrassed about the change because she said:

The ideal would be a stand-alone agency. There is no disagreement about it. Unfortunately, the Government has committed not to create any new agencies. Therefore, we had to find something more appropriate.

From this I am guessing that the Government stated, "Oh God, we can't create another quango because every time we do that the public disagrees." In addition, Fine Gael believes the Government should not create different public bodies. If we need a public body, we need one. What is Irish Water in that case? The Government had no problem in establishing an enormous quango that nobody wanted. It is not on principle that the Government cannot create new independent stand-alone agencies.

I ask the Minister of State to listen. The process of consultation with groups has to be taken seriously and many concerns have been expressed. It is also an issue of stigmatising. There are other issues that are not related to mental health. It would be in the best interests of all concerned if the Minister of State reconsidered.

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