David Norris (Independent)

I wish to propose an amendment to the Order of Business, that we stay with what is on the original Order Paper and deal only with Second Stage of the Residential Institutions Redress (Amendment) Bill 2011 today. It is an important Bill and the idea of taking all Stages, with a possible guillotine - although it is a very short Bill and it may not come to that - is bad parliamentary practice.

I ask the Leader if he can look at the Government possibly reintroducing a Bill on involuntary use of ECT, which was introduced in this House during the previous session with support from his party.

It was introduced by Dan Boyle and Déirdre de Búrca of the Green Party and myself. I raise this on foot of reports that a man recovering from heroin addiction was going through the withdrawal process and was committed to a hospital. He was scheduled to be subject to an involuntary application of this procedure in defiance of his wishes and the wishes of his family. The family applied to receive information about this treatment but they were denied it. One of the reasons given by this hospital in County Kildare was that, since the family had been in contact with the press, they had no right. That seems very high-handed. The family also asked for a second opinion. For a long time I have said we should not make such clear distinctions between physical illness and mental illness. They are counterparts, as was pointed as early as the late, great Dr. Jonathan Swift. One does not have such a fuss made if one seeks a second opinion on a physical illness. It seems extraordinary the family should be frustrated in seeking a second opinion of a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, which is a very easy diagnosis to make.

Will the Leader consider reintroducing this Bill? It is a violation of human rights that someone should be subjected involuntarily to a treatment with a dubious background although it may be successful in some cases and, in particular, denying the concerned family access to news and information about what is being done to the son and brother. This is wrong and the Bill should be reintroduced with all-party support.