Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for being here to take the Bill. Too often, Ministers are not in attendance for debates. I thank Deputies Ward and Mythen for introducing the Bill and former Senator Máire Devine for the work she did on it during her time in the Seanad. Its purpose is to introduce a level of parity between the ability of young people aged 16 and 17 to consent to mental health treatment and their existing ability to consent to treatment for their physical health.

For too long in this country, mental health has been seen as something that is secondary to physical health. The result of this kind of attitude is a level of service that is insufficient and not readily available in our communities when it is needed. It has led to a service that has ultimately left many people to fend for themselves when all they need is support and treatment. The aspect we are discussing today concerns enabling young people of 16 and 17 to consent to appropriate treatment. It makes total sense. I know many people of that age who are active campaigners for appropriate mental health services for their age group. Unfortunately, many of them have been at the coalface of insufficient services or been in scenarios in which they were the ones who needed the treatment but found they were spoken over rather than spoken to.

One such campaigner in my constituency, Charlotte, has brought to my attention the issues she faced when seeking support and treatment. While I am aware this Bill cannot address all the deficiencies within our mental health services, I want to give voice to her concerns and experiences.

At times she did not feel listened to or treated as appropriate for her age. She and the young people she speaks to want to see a mental health service that adapts to the type of patients that present. Then there is the manner of how a person in a crisis situation is supposed to present in an emergency department. At Tipperary University Hospital there was meant to be a room solely for the purpose of people presenting with a mental health issue but nobody I have spoken to has ever been in that room. There is no liaison psychiatrist for children in my HSE region. It is hard to imagine, but there is none. These are just some of the issues that young people are campaigning on. I commend them on that and will continue to support them in their efforts.

When introducing this Bill in 2021, Deputy Mythen noted that it was meant to be about the rights and protection of young people, the right to be heard and how this needed to be expressly stated through legislation. He said that this was what this Bill would do. This Bill may help to lay the groundwork for more focused effort being made to tailor services to properly take account of young people's needs and, just as importantly, their insights. It is time young people aged 16 and 17 have autonomy to consent to and avail of appropriate mental health treatment while not taking away any existing protections for vulnerable young people. Young people have plenty of insights to give into how the system should work. It would be hard to say that they should not have the capacity to consent or otherwise. I commend my colleagues on introducing this Bill and thank all who worked on it so far.

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