Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)

I will be echoing a lot of the things that have already been said. I lend my support as well to Senator Nicole Ryan's powerful contribution. Her contributions are always powerful and today's is no different.

I have concerns about the Bill. A Bill on mental health in Ireland is well overdue, but this Bill is flawed in its purpose. The purpose of the Bill is to protect people and to bring us in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities but I do not think we are achieving that. I want to reflect the concerns that Mental Health Reform has outlined. Members of the group are here with us today to see how the debate is going. I suspect the Minister of State knows amendments will be tabled. I hope she is open to hearing them and discussing them on Committee Stage.

The Bill is intended to modernise the Mental Health Act 2001, strengthen our human rights protections and bring us closer in line with our UN obligations. In the Bill as drafted, and especially following recent Dáil Committee Stage amendments, there are risks of regression rather than progress for people.

Mental Health Reform has highlighted that in the criteria for involuntary treatment, which have been significantly expanded. In practical terms, that means more people rather than fewer people are finding themselves treated against their will. This is the opposite of what we should be trying to achieve. Worse still, this Bill also allows involuntary treatment to commence before capacity assessment is completed. That is really problematic and concerning because we should be assuming capacity and assessing it carefully before the State exercises one of the most coercive powers it can have, which is to treat someone against their will.

There is also a troubling lengthening of the maximum duration of the involuntary detention from 21 days to 42 days. At a time when we are trying to promote community-based supports, this doubles the potential period a person can be held without their consent. We really need to focus on what supports can be provided within the community.

There remains no statutory independent advocacy or fully independent complaints mechanism, as the Minister of State has heard from other contributors today. Both of those things are very important safeguards so that the voices of those who are most at risk and most marginalised can be heard and advocated for by someone to whom they reach out. I urge the Minister of State to consider an amendment on the idea of having a statutory advocacy service. These concerns are serious. We must bring the Bill back in line with the purpose of having a rights-based approach for people with mental health issues and a focus on recovery. Recovery-focused healthcare in the community is critical. The amendments I and other colleagues will bring on Committee Stage will strengthen the Bill. I hope we will have an opportunity to discuss them in more detail.