Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The ideal would be a stand-alone agency. There is no disagreement about it. Unfortunately, the Government has committed not to create any new agencies. Therefore, we had to find something more appropriate. What Senator O'Donnell said about human rights is important. Those in the Mental Health Commission are the people who know the most about human rights. We are talking about a rebranding exercise whereby we will have the Mental Health Commission and the decision support service. While they will not be the one agency, they will have all the expertise and knowledge necessary. It is about a much wider group of people than those with mental health difficulties. This is why I am glad Senator Norris raised the issue of acquired brain injury.

The legislation has been long awaited. Although Senator Conway said it had been 20 years, it has been much longer, albeit not in the guise which it takes now, but in terms of what is being spoken about and how we deal with people who, from time to time, perhaps not entirely, lack capacity. None of us here can say there have not been times when we lacked capacity. Regardless of whether they were self-inflicted, there clearly have been such times. Several weeks ago, some people came to me and said a person they loved very deeply had acquired a brain injury, although not a very substantial one. The greatest difficulty with brain injury is that while sometimes it does not look substantial, it can be a great imposition. These people were soon to return to court to decide whether the person would be taken in as a ward.The judge in the case, showing the wisdom of Solomon, asked whether they would not prefer to have an adjournment and wait for this legislation. It will cover everyone. In respect of reporting, information and supervision, it will be the director of the service that makes those decisions. From time to time the director may have to go to the courts to have the decision implemented but, whoever he or she is, the director will make the decisions. It is human-rights-based and that is vitally important. It would have been lovely to be able to tell Senators we were setting up an entirely independent agency-----