Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Tom Neville. On behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, and the Government, I thank Members for the wide-ranging discussion and suggestions put forward in this debate. This is an important debate which addresses our common desire to ensure that our mental health legislation is as fit for purpose as it can be and meets the highest international standards. There is no doubt that the subject of mental health, in all its aspects, is a priority for all parties represented in the House. Needless to say, when the particular mental health topic is legislation, it is only right and proper that all Members of this House be afforded the opportunity to have their say on how best we can proceed to amend such legislation.

I echo the Minister's earlier comments and thank Deputy James Browne for introducing this Bill. It not only reflects one of the clear priorities for the Government, but is also a strong reminder that stakeholders in the area of mental health want to see progress on the general scheme of the Bill to revise the Mental Health Act 2001. That point has been well made and is accepted on this side of the House. As the Minister of State explained earlier, work is under way in the Department of Health on changes to our mental health legislation, both in the short and medium term. The priority in the short term is to amend the current Mental Health Act 2001 to change the definition of voluntary patient to ensure that such patients must be able to consent to such admissions and treatment.

In the medium term, work is continuing on the general scheme of a Bill to amend the Act on the basis of the comprehensive recommendations of the expert group review of the Act. This is a complex piece of work and it is expected that the finalised text of the Bill will be significantly progressed by the end of the year. The change to the definition of "voluntary patient", which is included in Deputy Browne's Bill, must be accompanied by putting in place appropriate safeguards to ensure that those persons without capacity or a mental disorder as defined in the 2001 Act, but who require mental health treatment, can also continue to access such treatment. The Minister's intention is to introduce such safeguards as part of the deprivation of liberty safeguards also being developed at this time. It is absolutely clear that the two changes must commence simultaneously and because these changes are also required in order to be compliant with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, this will remain the priority of the Minister of State and her officials.

That, of course, is not to say that the other changes are any less important and the Minister has accepted that these can be discussed further, both in the context of this Bill and in light of progress made on the general scheme of a Bill. In this regard, Members must acknowledge that many of the provisions and sections of the 2001 Act are interconnected, so to make changes on an isolated basis is not always possible. At times, a change in one area is only possible when other related changes are made. That is why it is often better to make such changes as part of an overall package of measures as proposed under the general scheme of the Bill now being prepared.

Members can be assured that the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, and her officials will review all the comments made here this evening in the context of Deputy Browne's Bill and they will bear these in mind as work progresses on both the short and medium-term mental health legislation objectives.

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