Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for her comments on the Bill. I echo what the other speakers have said. I wish to touch on a few additional points in the short time I have. In her opening remarks, the Minister of State mentioned that we ratified the convention in 2018. Back in 2016 and 2017, I remember the then disability spokesperson, former Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin fought very hard for the optional protocol to be included in the Bill. It is one of the most important parts of any Bill when it comes to rights for people with disabilities.

I listened to what was said by other speakers. While nothing is perfect and people can work together, there will be amendments, but as other speakers have mentioned, the reform of wardship is necessary, as there is a currently a significant problem in that regard. I am not 100% sure how things will transition from there.

It would be remiss of me if I did not thank the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for its work on pre-legislative scrutiny and also the Joint Sub-Committee on Mental Health. I also thank the stakeholders that were included, although obviously some were not.

It is a very complicated piece of legislation, but we are moving forward. With the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill and the decision support services that should be in place show how our archaic mental health laws have been so damaged and tangled that, as it stands, we are not helping people. The Minister of State will have heard me speak in the Chamber about the current state of the Owenacurra mental health centre in Midleton. The patients there did not get the options outlined in the Bill, despite what the Ministers of State and the Minister have been told about it. I feel very passionately about mental health and mental health legislation.

I welcome elements of the Bill too: it is not all negative. The committees had a very short timeframe for pre-legislative scrutiny. There were already approximately 87 amendments to this Bill. There are stakeholders outside and inside this House who will probably table more amendments to the Bill.

When I come in here, I often say, let us do something that is right, but is different and makes us become world leaders. We have a reputation in this country for being the best people, the friendliest people and whatever else, but we should have the same empathy and compassion when we go through legislation and come out the other end. It might not be us who are here in two, five or ten years' time, but please God we will be alive, and we will say to ourselves that we are glad that we stuck together, that we all worked on this and made this country a better place. We legislated for the people that we are supposed to represent in this House.

The Minister of State said: "I welcome the opportunity to introduce the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022 to the House. I look forward to our debate this afternoon". It is a debate, but the points have to be made also. We do not want to rush the legislation because we want to get it right. We want to get it spot-on. As I speak about the Bill in the House, I am conscious that as legislators we have let people down in the past. We have legacy issues in this country whereby the most vulnerable have been treated deplorably. The word "disability" is a label and a tag that is given to people because of a condition they have, but the condition is not their fault. It is about rights. While society labels people with a disability, the problem is that they are being cast aside and mistreated because we are not legislating for their rights. It could be as simple as not providing a ramp on a footpath for a wheelchair user to improve access and help people to cross roads. We are the failures, because we have not supplied those people with everything that they need to live the fullest life they can. I could talk for hours on the Bill but I am running out of time. This side of the House will table amendments, not to fight but to provide clarity and in order to get this right.

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