Joan Freeman (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I also commend Deputy Browne and, indeed, Fianna Fáil for pushing the issue of mental health. As an aside, our Government seems to feel absolutely no embarrassment that the existing Mental Health Act 2001 is not compliant with either the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child or the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, Labour, the Green Party and Independent Members have so far been unwavering in supporting a positive mental health agenda and they should be commended on that.

In a very fundamental way, this legislation supports the rights of inpatients to make decisions on their treatment by reflecting the policies of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. The existing framework, whereby a person who has no capacity is nonetheless deemed to consent to treatment, is quite wrong both in law and as a matter of practice. This is an important amendment that respects the capacity of persons to have a proper say in their own treatment. The autonomous decision making of a patient is also given new protection in the child-specific provisions. It is important that the Deputy included these in the amendments. I have a particular interest in the amendment to section 25 of the 2001 Act, by which Deputy Browne proposes to include best interest principles where a child is admitted to hospital under a court order. As we know, there have recently been horrific cases of young people being admitted to hospital by court order with neither their autonomy or privacy rights being given full protection. This is the precise type of child-focused modernisation that is required by our Mental Health Act and I fully support it.

As the Minister of State is aware, we had a lively discussion here last week about the manner in which the Mental Health Act 2001 protects the rights of the child. Unfortunately, the Act is dramatically out of date. I think I am correct in saying that as few as one out of 160 recommendations from the expert review of the Mental Health Act 2001 were implemented. We still stand by the practice of admitting children to adult units in this country. I often meet GPs who say that this would never occur for a child with acute illness, for example, a kidney infection. Such a child would not be admitted to an adult unit and yet, in mental health care, the HSE will stand by this practice which its regulatory body has openly condemned. It is important that section 25 spell out the rights of the child which need to be considered by the courts when this kind of order is made. I also note that the adoption of the best interest provisions proposed by Deputy Browne would reflect and protect international human rights law and the necessity for children to have a say in their own treatment.

I congratulate Deputy Browne once again on this excellent legislation. I hope that these provisions can be reflected in what needs to be a more timely and better staffed mental health service.