Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Given that the core of the Bill is about human rights, we start at a level of perfection and fall as fragile human beings. We do not start half way up a ladder.

I thank some of the experts in the Public Gallery and people such as Mary Farrell. Many of us can be educated and informed by those who live with what the Bill is trying to provide for and whose lives are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Mary Farrell is in her 70s and is caring for her 47 year old son who is not well. We must be very careful how we deal with this. As my colleague, Senator van Turnhout, said, it is not a simple amendment but a huge and odd one. The premise of the Bill was centred on the Courts Service. Why was it changed and moved to the Mental Health Commission? Who is going to report to whom and about what regarding discharge orders, orders for decision making and representatives? I thank the experts in the Public Gallery and people such as Mary Farrell, who keep us informed about the reality of life out there, where Bills must be changed. That is what we are here for, as a conduit to make their lives full of the promise of human rights, and the perfection of it, not half way up the ladder, as Senator Conway suggested.