Results 1-20 of 4,088 for speaker:Sorca Clarke

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: In July 2020 there were 2,112 children waiting on a first-time appointment with CAMHS. Of those, 747 had been waiting for over a year. According to the reply I received this morning to a parliamentary question, there are 4,554 children now waiting on a first-time appointment with CAMHS, of whom 763 have been waiting for over a year. This is an eye-watering increase of more than 200% in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Care Services (12 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: 562. To ask the Minister for Health the steps she is taking to ensure all care home providers and nursing home providers have proper standards and are regularly checked; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31654/25]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (12 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: 563. To ask the Minister for Health the standards those employed in nursing homes have to have in terms of qualifications before being employed; the ongoing training that is provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31655/25]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Care Services (12 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: 564. To ask the Minister for Health if a care home group (details supplied) are operating any care homes or nursing homes in County Westmeath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31656/25]

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: What can be seen in these amendments is that the Minister of State has listened to the stakeholders who have come forward. When I spoke with them, I was really struck that the concerns that they were raising were coming from a place where they wanted the best possible treatment for the patients, particularly in respect of that gap that was emerging between the involuntary admission versus...

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: I find the Minister of State's position slightly confusing, as she wanted direct input into what a care plan was in the Bill's original iteration. I know the Government has rowed back on the layout of a care plan somewhat. However, for the Minister of State to say she wants to define what the layout of a care plan is, but not what a psychosocial assessment is, just does not add up.

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: I move amendment No. 81: In page 34, line 4, to delete “24 hours” and substitute “72 hours”.

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: It would be related to their existing rate of pay if it were considered overtime.

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: I imagine the information is there somewhere. Somebody has said it is going to cost €3.5 million. What is that cost?

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: How many?

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: I will speak briefly to amendment No. 76. This is a real missed opportunity for the Government. This amendment deals with the holistic assessment of an individual. I recognise that the Minister of State said she thinks there is something in this proposal and will consider putting it into secondary legislation. If she thinks there is something in this, it should be inserted in the primary...

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: The Minister of State spoke of authorised officers per county. There has to be a better model than that. In my constituency, an authorised officer may be needed in Coole. Granard is ten minutes up the road but Athlone is an hour's drive in the opposite direction. A more open approach, as opposed to one based on restrictive county boundaries, could work much better, particularly in rural areas.

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: I have a straightforward question. If there are 174 authorised officers at present, how many does €3.5 million equate to?

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: I will speak briefly to the general scheme of these amendments and the important and critical issue that Garda representatives raised with the health committee this morning about the availability of authorised officers. Their asks, which are incredibly reasonable, is that there be authorised officers for them to call upon. The Mental Health Commission said it planned to bring forward a...

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: There is no way to plan outside of 24-7, 365 days a year. I do not think the Minister of State will find an objection from anybody in this House were a proposal brought forward to do that. We all recognise the importance of them and the role and incredible work gardaí do, so when they come looking for something, we should be the ones to say that if we can, we will.

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: With the greatest of respect, the Deputy has clearly not read the amendment because it specifically states: Nothing in subsection (1) shall be construed as authorising the involuntary admission of a person to a registered acute mental health centre by reason only of the fact that the person— (a) has a psychosocial disability or a mental illness that does not fulfil the criteria for...

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: I move amendment No. 37: In page 22, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following: “Criteria for involuntary admission to registered acute mental health centre 12. (1) A person may be involuntarily admitted to a registered acute mental health centre pursuant to an involuntary admission order and held there if he or she fulfils each of the criteria (in this Act referred to as...

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: Amendment No. 32 has been ruled out of order on the basis that it could potentially impose a charge on the Revenue, which I find quite flippant seeing as it would actually redirect funding into a CAMHS bed. The Minister of State spoke of not wanting to tie the hands of a consultant who is in a very difficult situation behind his or her back. Nobody wants to do that. However, this is...

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: To have an appropriate level of inpatient CAMHS beds would absolutely be the pinnacle and that is where we need to get to. I recommend to the Minister of State that the young people who were placed in adult psychiatric units, voluntarily or involuntarily, should be brought back in as part of the five-year review. In five years, we will have the first opportunity to review the implementation...

Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sorca Clarke: I did not say the Minister of State did.