Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Mental Health Review Board, MHRB, is a quasi-judicial body responsible for the review of the detention of patients in the Central Mental Hospital. Currently, paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 of the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 outlines the requirements of the membership of the board. There must be a chairperson and such number of ordinary members as determined by the Minister in consultation with the Minister for Health. As it stands, the chairperson must have ten years' experience as a practising barrister or practising solicitor or be a judge or former judge. Should the chairperson be incapacitated or unavailable, there is, at present, no means to provide for a substitute. This presents a risk given the strict time limits applicable to such reviews.

This amendment will establish a deputy chairperson role for the board with the same qualification requirements as the chair and will require the deputy chair to act as chair where the chair is not present. This will ensure that the reviews due to take place will still be possible even if the chairperson is unavailable. Should it arise that both the chair and deputy chair are unavailable, which could happen, the Minister may appoint a suitably qualified individual to act temporarily. An amendment to Schedule 1 to the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 is already in the Bill to this effect.

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