Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill, which amends the Mental Health Act 2001 to provide for the right of minors over the age of 16 to consent to mental health treatment. It corrects the anomaly whereby minors aged 16 and over have the right to consent to treatment in general healthcare but do not have similar rights in consenting to mental health treatment. The Bill brought forward by my colleagues, Deputies Ward and Mythen, will ensure a minor aged over 16 will be recognised before the law and will be able to make informed decisions about his or her mental health treatment. The existing difference in approach is clearly discriminatory in that it views those with mental health issues as being somehow incapable of making informed decisions. This approach only adds to the stigma many feel around mental health and to their feeling of exclusion in society.

Accepting that minors over the age of 16 are perfectly capable of making decisions about their mental health treatment, as this Bill aims to do, will help to change the misconceptions and barriers that can arise as a result of a lack of understanding by others of those with mental health issues. It will also help to change the way people judge those who have such issues. Young people with mental health difficulties can articulate their own vision of the services they need. They are increasingly able to make informed decisions about their treatment and other matters in their daily lives. There is no doubt that the needs of people with mental health disorders could be better understood and their rights better protected. This Bill addresses one such situation. Young people should be able to play an active part in the process, including the planning, development, monitoring and evaluation of their treatment. The Bill will change the existing legal position whereby it is not the minor aged 16 or older but his or her parents with whom the right exists to consent to inpatient mental health care and treatment for that minor. This welcome change can only have a positive impact on the well-being and mental health of those young people. It will give them more confidence and will be important for their self-esteem.

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