Tony Kett (Fianna Fail)

Absolutely. It has taken considerable time to update the law and the Minister is to be congratulated on doing it so early in his term of office. A plethora of legislation faces him but the fact that he has prioritised this indicates the need he has seen for clarification and for the development of this area of the law.

It is a long time since psychiatrists referred to the mentally ill as lunatics but the term still exists in the law on criminal insanity. A person arguing that he or she should be excused from liability on a criminal charge by virtue of a mental disorder still has to plead for a special verdict under the Trial of Lunatics Act 1883. It is not surprising that both the Minister and practising lawyers are concerned that this law should be brought up to date.

The new Bill affirms and codifies Irish common law decisions in regard to criminal insanity. It provides a comprehensive treatment, both legally and medically, for those whose mental state may be such that it is impossible for them to participate in a court of law. It also provides a framework for determining a person's fitness to be tried. It introduces the long overdue notion of diminished responsibility and sets up an ongoing review for the need to detain those who have offended while suffering from a mental disorder.

The kernel of the Bill is the new definition of what constitutes an excusing mental disorder. This is reduced to a single issue defined by the Minister as a mental disorder. Section 1 defines mental disorder as including "mental illness, mental handicap, dementia or any disease of the mind but does not include intoxication". I am delighted it excludes intoxication, which is a state brought on by ourselves.

People have asked our Leader to invite the Minister to discuss the issue of crime. No doubt intoxication will feature largely in that debate. It is one of the worst offences in terms of crime. In cases where people have been kicked to death or near death the perpetrators have generally been intoxicated. In my opinion the use of a boot in an assault is as bad as plunging a knife in someone's chest. We need to examine the law on that and perhaps mandatory sentencing should be considered.

There will be continued argument as to who falls inside or outside the definition of a mental disorder, particularly in the case of personality disorder. No two psychiatrists, prosecutors or lawyers will agree as to whether the definition of personality disorder falls inside the definitions as outlined in section 1. Doctors have been inclined to emphasise the element of treatability in regard to the definition of mental illness. As dementia and mental handicap have now been brought into this Bill, doctors will begin reconsidering the notion of treatability because neither is a treatable condition.