Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)

I clarify my remarks about the late-stage amendments. What I was referring to was over the time span of this Bill, which is a number of years, it was a late-stage amendment that was very dramatically impactful. It really altered much of this Bill. It took people by surprise and did not give sufficient time for consultation with interest groups outside of psychiatry. It is obvious that this came from lobbying by interest groups for psychiatry, as is their right, and I can see where they are coming from. At the same time, service users are an equally important if not more important interest group because they will be receiving the treatment.

It came at a late stage just on the deadline for submissions on Committee Stage. I was not here for that; I was sick on that day. I am not sure there was any discussion of it actually because it came in under the radar based on my reading of the transcript from that day. I think it needs to be justified. What is the human rights rationale? What is the clinical rationale to go from 21 days to 42 days? We have had an expert group working on the Bill for years. We have had the Mental Health Commission working on it. That is quite an about-turn.

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