Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his detailed reply. I am delighted that he can support the Bill's passage through the House, albeit with many amendments. The Bill is good practice and policy and it gives respect and dignity. It furthers acceptance, inclusion and equality. It is about the risk to the human rights issues of somebody who is detained against his or her will and, as a result, stripped of dignity.

In addition to thanking the Minister of State, more importantly, I thank the NGOs, namely, Mental Health Reform and Mental Health Ireland, community groups and university academics that have had an input into the Bill. For too long, people with mental health difficulties were especially prone to being left out of inclusive development efforts. Psychosocial disability is frequently misunderstood and the capacities of people affected are often discounted and their power and responsibility is taken away from them and assumed by clinicians and institutions, even moreso with those who are involuntarily detained.Going back to the days of enlightenment, and considering how enlightenment occurs in every generation, this generation in particular has steamrolled into it and embraced it, as has the country. We have taken a slow course from the lunacy Act to having, as Senator Bacik said, the highest number of incarcerated people per population in Europe. We incarcerated more than were incarcerated in the Gulag, which is quite an astounding statistic and not one to be proud of.

This is about leaving no one behind, to use that much-used phrase we have all got used to. Leaving no one behind is also the moral issue of our age. We cannot achieve equality within society without the full participation of everyone, including those with disabilities. We cannot afford to ignore or marginalise those 2,000-plus individuals per year who find themselves incarcerated and detained against their will in this country. All of us in this House have fought against the exclusion, negative attitudes, stigma and discrimination. We all pledge to leave no one behind, a pledge in pursuit of which we need to accept and pass this legislation as a concrete action to deal with situations of persons finding themselves involuntarily detained.

We will make policy, and I am delighted the Minister of State supports this amending Bill. I thank him and look forward to discussion of the concerns he has rightly pointed out. They need a lot more thoughtful consideration and discussion to get us to a Bill that is fit for purpose. I thank all Senators. I did not think they loved me that much. I have felt very loved today, but more so-----