Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I thank the Minister for explaining the Bill and taking the trouble to go through it. Unfortunately, my group was not invited to the briefing today. While it would have been helpful had we been so invited, this simply was an oversight.

As the Minister sets out on her way home, I should mention that one of the Booker prize nominations this year was Sebastian Barry's novel, The Secret Scripture, which deals with this issue. It is set in County Sligo, where the head of the mental hospital is trying to ensure that someone is allowed to leave and return to the community. The woman involved, who is doing all the writing, is doing her damnedest to prove she is insane and she is very clever. It is a beautiful book in which there is extraordinary tension between the two protagonists. One will not put it down until one is finished reading it.