Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

Unfortunately, I am not in a position to support this amendment. The expert review of the Mental Health Act did not recommend that a profession other than a consultant psychiatrist could become a clinical director of a service. Uniquely among health professionals, doctors have full clinical responsibility for people under their care and are similarly liable for a person's care. It may be that a future review of this enactment will recommend widening the professionals who could become a clinical director, but for such a recommendation to be accepted at this stage, a whole-of-system change would need to occur. I cannot accept the amendment at this time, but I believe it is a matter worth considering in future reviews of this enactment.

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