Mary Butler

I move amendment No. 268: In page 151, line 26, to delete “any other person” and substitute “another adult”.

I move amendment No. 269: In page 151, line 28, to delete “sections 60, 73, 83, 90 and 91” and substitute “sections 60, 69,73, 74, 75, 90 and 91”.

I move amendment No. 270: In page 152, line 23, to delete “Chief Inspector” and substitute “Chief Executive Officer”. Amendments Nos. 270 and 271 have been grouped. These amendments were prepared following consultation with the Mental Health Commission. Further to my previous comments in relation to the grouping on the role of the chief inspector, these amendments provide for the authorisation t…

I move amendment No. 271: In page 152, lines 24 and 25, to delete “Chief Inspector or the Assistant Inspectors of his or her duties” and substitute “Commission of its duties”.

I move amendment No. 272: In page 154, line 10, to delete “that section” and substitute “any of those sections”.

I move amendment No. 273: In page 157, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “(4) Where the Commission assigns a legal representative from a panel to an affected person under subsection (3), the Commission shall assign the legal representative who was previously assigned by the Commission on behalf of the person in respect of a relevant matter specified in paragraph (a) of section 19…

We were nearly there.

I move: Tuesday's business shall be:- - Motion re Presentation and Circulation of Revised and Second Further Revised Estimates [Votes 11 to 19, 23, 24, 26 to 30, 32 to 34, 39, 42 and 43] (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately) - Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension) Bill 2025 - Financial Resolution (without debate) - Motion re Third Report of the Standing Commit…

I have heard what the Whips said. Regarding what Deputy Mac Lochlainn said, an additional 60 minutes will be provided for Committee and Remaining Stages of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2025. Second Stage of the Bill will be 214 minutes, or 3 hours and 34 minutes, and a further two hours will be provided for the Committee and Remaining Stages, which is a total of 5 hours and 34 minute…

I am already very much minded to have legislation Fridays in the next few weeks. We can discuss it at the meeting of the Business Committee on Thursday. I will not be accepting the proposed amendments.

Some 24 million hours have been delivered this year.

No.

I move: That Dáil Éireann, pursuant to Standing Order 33, and with effect from 18th June, 2025, approves the Third Report of the Standing Committee of Selection, copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 12th June, 2025, and discharges a member from a Committee and appoints a member to a Committee accordingly.

In relation to Thursday's business, it is proposed that: 1. notwithstanding anything in the Order of the Dáil of yesterday, the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the extent that topical issues shall be taken on the conclusion of the Statements on Nursing Homes and the Care of Older Persons, with consequential effect on the commencement…

I am delighted to be here to discuss the Mental Health Bill 2024 on Committee Stage. The Bill was published in July of last year and I brought it to Second Stage in September. Since that time, officials in my Department have been working on amendments to improve the Bill based on further readings and consultation with stakeholders and other Government Departments and agencies. The review of the Me…

Section 1 of the Bill provides for the Short Title of the Bill, which shall be known as the Mental Health Act 2025, and provides for the commencement of the enactment either as a whole or in part.

I move amendment No. 1: In page 12, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “ “Act of 2018” means the Domestic Violence Act 2018;”. These amendments all relate to references to the Domestic Violence Act 2018. The 2018 Act amended section 9 of the Mental Health Act 2001 to ensure that the definition of "spouse" and "civil partner" in the 2001 Act did not include spouses and civil partn…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 12, line 29, after “ “capacity” ” to insert “, in relation to an adult or a child,”. This is a technical amendment to ensure the definition of capacity relates to both adults and to children.

I move amendment No. 3: In page 13, line 12, to delete “is appointed as the” and substitute “holds the office of”. This is a technical amendment to replace the term "appointed as the" inspector of mental health services with the term "holds the office of" inspector of mental health services.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 13, line 20, after “by” to insert “the governing body of”. This is a technical amendment to reference that the governing body of the registered acute mental health centre and not the centre itself appoints the clinical director.

I move amendment No. 5: In page 14, line 1, after “centre” ” to insert “, other than in section 146,”. This is a technical amendment to provide clarity that references to a designated centre in this enactment refer to a designated centre under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 and not a designated centre within the meaning of the Health Act 2004 except in section 146.

Amendments Nos. 6 and 33 have been grouped together. I will speak about both at this time. Both amendments relate to dual diagnosis. Amendment No. 6 provides for a definition of dual diagnosis and amendment No. 33 provides for a set of guiding principles in relation to dual diagnosis. I support increasing access to dual diagnosis services for people who need them and the thrust of what Deputy Clar…

I thank the Deputies for the comments. The mental health strategy before Sharing the Vision was A Vision for Change. We discussed that many times, as Deputy Ward said. It did not include dual diagnosis, so when we had Sharing the Vision - I think was launched in May 2020 because when I was appointed in June 2020 it was the first book on my desk - it included dual diagnosis. After Covid, we moved v…

I move amendment No. 7: In page 14, lines 3 and 4, to delete "order or a renewal order" and substitute "order, a renewal order or a proposed transfer under section 35,". Amendments Nos. 7 to 9, inclusive, have been grouped. Amendment No. 7 is an amendment to include examinations for the purpose of an application for transfer to the Central Mental Hospital within the definition of "examination". …

I move amendment No. 8: In page 14, line 4, to delete "for any purpose".