Mary Butler

I thank the Deputy very much for raising the issue of rural GP practices in County Laois. He said a site has not been identified for a primary care centre in Rathdowney. That is normal. It is because it is commercially sensitive. If the HSE has not purchased a site, it could drive up prices. I have seen the exact same situation in Lismore in County Waterford, where a site was not identified in adv…

But that is the reason that is the case. If the HSE does not own the site and it talks about where it is, straightaway, in the main, prices can go up, so there is a commercial sensitivity around it.

The HSE also tells me that there are no general medical services GP vacancies in County Louth. As we know, when a vacancy arises, the HSE actively recruits. I have a couple of positives for the Deputy. The new locum support initiative has commenced, which provides GPs in receipt of rural practice supports with access to a streamlined local recruitment service. This initiative is initially focusin…

Last Wednesday.

No.

I do not intend to rehearse the extensive debate on similar amendments which Deputy Clarke raised on Committee Stage. I acknowledge the amendment tabled by Deputy Quaide. I already moved the Government amendment on Committee Stage to amend the definition of "mental disorder" by inserting references to "serious" and "significant" in the definition to address concerns the definition was too broad. …

I move amendment No. 8: In page 21, lines 4 and 5, to delete “Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform” and substitute “Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation”. The amendments in this grouping are all technical amendments relating to changes required to ministerial titles previously used in the Bill. These amendments update the title…

I thank Deputy Clarke for the amendment. Section 8 of the Bill provides for a review of the operation of this enactment five years after its commencement. If it is necessary for a review to be carried out sooner than five years after the commencement of this enactment, that option will be available to the Government of the day. Section 8 of the Bill provides for a review to take place not later th…

I am satisfied with the five years. The whole Bill will not all be enacted on the same day. I expect the parts of it regarding the governance of CAMHS and community premises to come first. The changeover in age verification and the piece in regard to voluntary detention and the Garda may take longer until we have all the authorised officers in place. To set a definitive timeline of two and half ye…

Again, I am satisfied. It is a massive piece of legislation, as the Deputy knows, with 220 different sections. A huge number of changes will be made to how we deliver mental health services and there will also be major change for those who deliver mental health services. It will be a staggered, incremental roll-out of the Bill, in terms of a review for a service that might only be up and running f…

I move amendment No. 25: In page 32, line 39, to delete “for recommendation” and substitute “for a recommendation”. I will move amendments Nos. 25, 46, 62, 65, 97 to 101, inclusive, and 112, which have been grouped. These are all technical amendments required to correct various typographical errors in the Bill as amended.

I move amendment No. 26: In page 33, line 36, after “Justice” to insert “, Home Affairs and Migration”.

I do not believe amendment No. 29 is necessary as, under the Bill, a person may only be involuntarily admitted when the consultant psychiatrist believes that person has a mental disorder that meets the criteria for involuntary admission. If at any point during the person's admission the responsible consultant psychiatrist no longer believes the person meets the criteria for involuntary admission, …

This is not a late-stage amendment. It was discussed on the very first day; I do not think Deputy Quaide was here. We had a discussion for four hours. That was part of an amendment that was taken I think about a month ago; it is not new today. That was discussed at that time. This is another amendment that has been brought forward in relation to the 42 days. We cannot provide secondary legislatio…

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I move amendment No. 33: In page 41, lines 14 and 15, to delete “Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform” and substitute “Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation”.

I will speak to amendments Nos. 36, 40 to 45, inclusive, and amendment No. 48. The safeguards contained in the amended Bill in relation to consent to treatment are appropriate and balanced. I would like to reiterate that consent to treatment provisions in the Bill, in line with the Mental Health Act 2001, only apply where a person has been assessed as lacking capacity. Outside of very limited circ…

I move amendment No: 46: In page 64, line 18, after “proposed,” to insert “or”.

Again, this amendment relates to people who are involuntarily detained who do not have capacity. In many cases a person can regain some level of decision-making capacity within two to three weeks of admission. If an application is made on behalf of all these people, the vast majority of the applications will not be required as they will have regained capacity a short number of days after the makin…

I move amendment No. 50: In page 67, line 7, after “Justice” to insert “, Home Affairs and Migration”.

I thank Deputy Clarke. Amendment No. 51 does not provide for a definition of "chemical restraint" or "advocate", two terms which have not been used elsewhere in the Bill. Amendment No. 52, proposed by Deputy Quaide, exactly matches the text of the published general scheme and includes terms that have not been used in the Bill itself. The Department has not included provisions on the use of chemica…

I will be brief. As I have said, chemical restraint is a complicated matter. I do not believe the amendments proposed here today adequately address the complexities of the issue. The Mental Health Commission can determine a code of practice in respect of any restrictive practice. It is positive that the Mental Health Commission noted in its latest publication that there has been an overall reducti…

I move amendment No. 53: In page 70, line 11, after “Justice” to insert “, Home Affairs and Migration”.

I spoke at some length on Committee Stage about child admissions to adult units and do not propose to speak about the matter in great detail again but I would like to speak to the amendment. We do not need to put a time limit in primary legislation on how long a child can be admitted to an adult unit. The small number of child admissions that currently take place are done on an emergency basis and…

The Deputy was not speaking to the amendment. May I conclude?