Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I, too, am pleased to speak on the Mental Health (Renewal Orders) Bill 2018. It is a pity that it took a court case nearly six months ago to bring us to this point. The purpose of the Bill is to provide a lawful basis for the reception, detention and treatment of persons who are detained involuntarily on the renewal orders under section 15(3) of the Mental Health Act 2001. This Bill seeks to provide for repeat renewal orders of a maximum duration of six months each. I welcome that even though six months is a long time. It is to provide for a new right of a patient detained under section 15(3) renewal order made for a period exceeding three months to access a review of his or her detention, or after three months from the date the renewal order was made. I welcome that certainly because it gives some balance and a say to the patients.

This review will be carried out by a mental health tribunal which will satisfy itself whether the patient is suffering from a mental disorder. The word "tribunal" is ill-chosen because in this country it has awful connotations of slowness, ineptitude and cost.

I advise that we go back to calling it a monitoring committee or some other word rather than a tribunal.

The Bill is a response to the finding by the Court of Appeal on 3 May 2018 that section 15(3) of the Mental Health Act 2001 is unconstitutional. It took a brave person to take that case. This section provides for the involuntary detention of patients for periods not exceeding 12 months. The finding was on the basis that there is no effective means for a patient to seek an independent review of his or her detention within a reasonable time. That is a simple and straightforward finding and the only way it should have found.

Mental health was taboo and hidden for years in our country. A Vision for Change was a wonderful document which the Government brought in, under the then Minister of State, John Moloney. It was very aspirational with a wonderful vision for change but with no results to back it up. The Minister of State is well aware of that. He promised in Tipperary that he would try to change that. There is a cost to families, to people themselves, both men and women, to communities, to employers and to the economy. It damages the fabric of society when people suffer mental illness with no help. The Minister of State came to Clonmel and dealt with some people. I appeal to him to sort out the issue with the child and adolescent mental health service, CAMHS, in Cork. We have young people, adolescents, who are being put into a paediatrics ward in St. Joseph's Hospital in Clonmel, County Tipperary, who should not be there. The sick young children need their own treatment. These people are traumatised and distressed and we have to ask why. We have to go deep here to find out what is causing all this. It is a huge problem but there is no place for them. I understand the hospital is not taking them now. Where will parents bring them and what will they do?

As Deputy Connolly said, I support people in the work they are doing. I support Jigsaw in Tipperary, which is wonderful, and many more groups throughout the country. There are many problems which the Minister of State needs to get his teeth into. Get rid of the officialdom and red tape and get funds where they should be, supporting families and vulnerable people.

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