James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. There continues to be great concern about 24-hour staffed community residences which are not regulated but provide care to a large cohort of vulnerable people with long-term mental illnesses. The Mental Health Commission has stated that it takes the view that these residences accommodate too many service users, are often of poor physical infrastructure, and are institutional in nature and lack individual care plans. Regulation of these residences should be prioritised. I am glad to hear it may be dealt with in the coming legislation but, nonetheless, it should have happened before now. As I understand it, the heads of this Bill have been promised every year for the last three years and we still have not seen them.

Over 1,300 vulnerable adults with mental illness were accommodated in community residences that are unregulated, mostly in institutionalised settings. We regularly hear the mantra of the Minister about decongregation but it would appear people will be decongregated from regulated settings into unregulated settings in the community. Rather than decongregation being a situation of empowerment for people with mental illness, it would appear they are being abandoned to these unregulated centres. We saw the scandal at Leas Cross in the past and I am very concerned that similar situations could be allowed to arise in these unregulated mental health services.

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