Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not on a member of the health committee, I am more involved on the mental health side. I was at the briefing in the Audio Visual Room when Ms Vera Twomey made a presentation to us. I could not be but be moved by her presentation and on seeing the anguish and the pain written all over her face in speaking about caring for her daughter who suffers from Dravet syndrome. I did not know much about her condition. The impact of it was compounded last Monday when a constituent from my parish visited my clinic, with her three year old daughter who also has Dravet syndrome, to speak to me about this Bill. She presented me with the detail of what she has gone through during the past three years. It impacted on me even more to meet the three year old girl who has the condition. Her mother explained the cocktail of medications her daughter is on and the side effects of those. Anything we could do to alleviate pain and give these people a quality of life must be supported and we must assist them in any way we can. I am speaking here tonight on behalf of that constituent from my parish and her daughter who I did not realise had that condition. It was a huge learning curve to hear about it.

I acknowledge Deputy Gino Kenny's work on the Bill. I have spoken to him about it since I spoke to that constituent. I take on board his sentiments that some of the challenges around the fringes of the Bill need to be addressed and they can be addressed on Committee and Report Stages. The ethos of this Bill is to improve the quality of life of these people. Therefore, I will not stand in the way of its passage. I will work constructively on it. It is a breath of fresh air that no political footballs are being bandied about here tonight and that we are having a constructive debate with constructive solutions. It has happened in other debates around mental health. It is very much welcomed. As a new Deputy, I want to see more of that and that we would work constructively together. We will not agree on everything. Members come from different political ideological backgrounds but it is very welcome when we can reach consensus on measures such as this and bring forward solutions rather than problems.

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