Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

In explaining the Government amendments, I may be able to assist the Senator to an extent. The substantive amendments being proposed by the Minister arise from concerns that have been expressed for some time, both at home and abroad, about the system of certification, decertification and transfer of persons detained for appropriate psychiatric treatment in the Central Mental Hospital. The Office of the Attorney General has stated that the process is dubious from a legal viewpoint and creates administrative procedures that could be confusing in their application. Medical practitioners have been decertifying persons who had been certified a short period earlier merely as an administrative device to ensure that they could appear in court and then return to the Central Mental Hospital for treatment. The Attorney General has advised that the legislation covering the certification of persons in the categories affected — prisoners on remand or awaiting trial or sentenced prisoners — is no longer viable, and that the system for the transfer of such persons to the Central Mental Hospital should be overhauled and put on a modern, statutory basis. He suggested that the opportunity should be taken to insert suitable provisions in the Bill to modernise and clarify the purpose of transferring such persons to the central mental hospital and to repeal the relevant statutory provisions. It had been intended to deal with the matter under the proposed new prisons agency bill, but the Minister agrees with the views of the Attorney General and proposes to provide for the necessary legislative changes under the Bill.

It is relevant that the Council of Europe committee that covers the whole area of punishment commented on our arrangements in a report, following a visit and inspection of places of detention in May 2002. The main difficulties with the system include the fact that the certification and decertification processes require the official seal of the relevant Minister, in the form of a ministerial order, which must be signed by duly authorised persons. That can give rise to administrative difficulties.

There are a number of other difficulties, one of which is the one identified by Senator Henry. A problem can arise if a person transfers to the central mental hospital on a voluntary basis and subsequently refuses to take medication. In such cases, before medication can be administered, the person has to be transferred back to prison for certification and then sent back to the central mental hospital under a ministerial order. Senator Henry raised the issue on Committee Stage previously, and the Minister undertook to make his own proposals on the matter on Report Stage. The matter has been one of concern for some time. I appreciate the fact that, technically, the Seanad is technically back in Committee now. That is because of the substantive character of the amendment.

Originally, it was intended to deal with this question under the proposed prisons Bill, but the matter is also relevant to this Bill and the Government has decided to include the appropriate provision in it. It deals with the complex questions of prisoners being transferred from places of detention to the central mental hospital for treatment and back again. That affects persons who have been sentenced on remand or who are awaiting trial. The current procedure involves certificates from psychiatrists, certification and decertification procedures and transfers from prisons to the Central Mental Hospital. The procedures are Byzantine and confusing in their operation to say the least and need to be regularised. I propose a number of amendments today on behalf of the Minister to deal with the shortcomings of the existing arrangements. The intention behind these new provisions is to streamline the administrative formalities.