Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak to amendment No. 203 which proposes to delete section 68(7). Advance health care directives are a welcome addition to the Bill and will provide a way for people to articulate their will and preference for a later date in which their views may become unclear or unknown. This can be useful for treatment decisions relating to end of life situations, mental health crises and age related disability. A coalition of organisations in the fields of mental health, disability and older people have consistently called for advance health care directives to apply equally in the general health and mental health contexts. Too often mental health issues are seen as separate and different, and the same rights and protections are not extended to mental health service users as they are to others. The addition of section 68(7) to the Bill has therefore come as a surprise to me since it effectively excludes the use of advance health care directives when a person is involuntarily detained and treated under the Mental Health Act 2001. The provision is unfortunate because it is precisely when people-----