Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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204. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to reform the law and policy on involuntary psychiatric admission; if will outline any recent changes in this area; the legislation that currently applies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28125/13]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The legislation which governs the involuntary admission of patients to approved centres is the Mental Health Act 2001. This Act is being reviewed at present in line with the commitment contained in the Programme for Government to review the Act "informed by human rights standards and in consultation with service users, carers and other stakeholders". The Government and I attach great importance to this review.

In June 2011, I established a Steering Group to oversee the first part of the review. The terms of reference for this phase required the Steering Group to review the provisions of the Act having regard to its general operation since its commencement and to take into account the extend to which the recommendations of 'A Vision for Change' could or should be underpinned by legislation and the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with disabilities. The Interim Report of the Steering Group on the Review of the Mental Health Act 2001 was published on 21 June 2012 and is available on my Department's website (www.doh.ie). The recommendations of the Interim Review have been well received by key stakeholders and fully endorsed the rights based approach to mental health law in addition to supporting the objectives of 'A Vision for Change' especially in relation to the promotion of community based mental health services. Changes to limit the number of people detained and to improve procedures and safeguards regarding their detention were also recommended and the need to strengthen provisions relating to children was also emphasised.

In August last year, I announced the membership of an Expert Group to carry out the second and substantive phase of the review which is principally tasked with fleshing out the Steering Group recommendations. The Group is comprised of 15 people in total and includes expertise from a range of professionals and key stakeholder organisations.

The Expert Group has met on a number of occasions since its formation and is continuing its deliberations. It is expected that the review will be completed this year.