Laura Harmon (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State. I agree with Senator Boyhan’s remarks that we need to give this Bill due process and ensure that stakeholders, some of whom are in the Gallery today, are engaged with. I welcome the representatives from Mental Health Reform. Other stakeholders, like the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, should be engaged with. It is a matter of concern that the Government has tabled such a large volume of amendments at this late stage of the Bill's passage through the Oireachtas. The amendments arrived with little notice and with little time for Members to properly scrutinise what is being proposed. We cannot rush this through without a full and proper debate. This is not the right way to govern or to ensure that passed by the Oireachtas is the subject of proper debate and scrutiny.

The Mental Health Bill is landmark legislation. It is complex, and I acknowledge the work the Minister of State is doing in terms of stewarding the Bill through the Houses. It will mark some of the most significant changes in decades in the context of how we provide mental health care and treatment. More than that, it will have a real and substantive effect on the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in our society. We absolutely owe it to them to make sure that we give the legislation the attention it deserves. In that context, the tabling of these amendments at short notice is disappointing. However, it is encouraging that the Minister of State wants to engage. That may have to happen over a number of different sessions in order to allow us to have a comprehensive debate.