Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank the Independent Group for using Private Members' time to discuss this important issue. I apologise for the absence of a number of my colleagues but there is an important funeral in Cork today. There are not as many of us around for the debate but I would not like anybody to think that undermines the importance that our party attaches to this vital issue.

Like Senator Mary Ann O'Brien, I am not interested in scoring political points on this subject. Reference was made to the contribution of former Minister of State, John Moloney, in the past and we would all like to get this issue right. Everybody acknowledges there are difficulties and while there are many reasons for failure, there are no excuses. That is why we must have an open mind in considering the best way to move the debate forward. I will not list the measures Fianna Fáil implemented correctly over the years or what the Government has begun to do badly. I fully support the concept of individualisation. We must look to what might have been perceived once upon a time as non-essential charities and voluntary organisations run by business people such as the Jack and Jill foundation and examine the care model they have implemented in such a professional manner. We must be prepared to learn from this.

State institutions are often cumbersome and reluctant to accept the need for change. Departments are like walls filled with pigeon holes similar to those via which our post is distributed and civil servants are unable to connect one pigeon hole to another. That often contributes to preventing something that is simple and necessary from happening. In 2007, Ireland signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This did not confer new rights; rather it reiterated existing rights and made it clear that such rights could no longer be ignored. The heads of a mental capacity Bill were drawn up in 2008 based on a Law Reform Commission document on vulnerable adults produced in 2006 and, therefore, from the outset the scheme of the Bill was outdated, as it was based on this document and not on the UN convention to which Ireland had signed up.

I have been contacted by a number of interest groups and, as they have said, since it is 140 years since primary legislation was introduced in this area, we should be sure we get the update right. Ireland's long-standing position on conventions such as this is that we ratify them after we have legislated and, therefore, to ratify this convention, legislation needs to pass through the Oireachtas. However, there is little point in ushering in legislation that does not allow for ratification, as the proposed Bill threatened to do. Legislation must adhere to the changes the convention sets out. This would mean a move way from the stigmatisation associated with mental health issues. We recently debated the incidence of suicide and mental health issues and the Minister of State has been very good to come to the House so often. She is fast becoming the Martin Mansergh of this Administration. For a period, he felt like he had never left the Seanad, even though he was a Minister of State.