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 Mental Health Act and …
TDs / Mary Butler
Mary Butler
Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach with special responsibility as Government Chief Whip; and the Department of Health with responsibility for Mental Health
Portrait: Mary Butler (CC BY 4.0) · source file
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| Month | Questions | Contributions |
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| September 2026 | 0 | 30 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 31 |
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Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Waterford 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach with special responsibility as Government Chief Whip; and the Department of Health with responsibility for Mental Health 23 January 2025 to now
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 partners in respect of wh…
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 Clarke is trying to achi…
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 very quickly to put i…
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".
Amendment No. 8 is …
I move amendment No. 8:
In page 14, line 4, to delete "for any purpose".
I move amendment No. 9:
In page 14, line 6, to delete "the mood, perceptions and the behaviour" and substitute "the perceptions, emotion and mood, judgement and the behaviour".
I move amendment No. 10:
In page 14, line 10, to delete "sections" and substitute "section".
Amendments Nos. 10, 195, 201, 242, 243, 262 and 272 are grouped. These are technical amendments to correct a typographical error to amend reference to "sections" to "section".
I move amendment No. 11:
In page 14, line 16, to delete "section 22" and substitute "sections 22 and 37".
The amendment inserts an amendment to the definition of "involuntary admission order" to ensure that the definition includes orders made under section 22, where a person is admitted from the community, and orders made under section 37, where a person is admitted involuntarily through a change of status from vol…
I move amendment No. 12:
In page 14, lines 24 and 25, to delete "(both within the meaning of section 2 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015)".
I will speak to amendments Nos. 12, 18, 94 and 95. These are technical amendments to delete the reference to the Legal Services (Regulation) Act 2015 in the definition of "legal representative" in amendment No. 12 to a new definition being introduced for "practising bar…
I move amendment No. 13:
In page 14, to delete lines 32 to 34 and substitute the following:
""mental disorder" means, in relation to a person, any mental illness or mental health difficulty, whether of a continuous or intermittent nature, which seriously affects the person’s thinking, perception, emotion, mood or judgement leading to significant impairment of the mental function of the person;".
This amendment ame…
The Bill as initiated separates the definition of "mental disorder" from the criteria for involuntary admission. Following consultation, as I said, with stakeholders after publication, the definition will be amended to read:
"mental disorder" means, in relation to a person, any mental [disorder] illness or mental health difficulty [or disability], whether of a continuous or intermittent nature, which seriously affec…
The definition of the term "mental disorder" means "in relation to a person, any mental illness or mental health difficulty, whether of a continuous or intermittent nature". It has to be taken in the round and not just one part of it. The definition continues, "which seriously affects the person’s thinking, perception, emotion, mood or judgement leading to significant impairment of the mental function of the person”.…
I move amendment No. 18:
In page 15, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following:
“ “practising barrister” has the same meaning as it has in the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015;
“practising solicitor” has the same meaning as it has in the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015;”.
I move amendment No. 19:
In page 15, to delete lines 34 to 37 and substitute the following:
“ “registered community mental health centre” means any community-based residential centre (other than a registered acute mental health centre) registered by the Commission in accordance with Chapter 2 of Part 6 which—
(a) provides specialist mental health care and treatment for persons with an enduring mental disorder or o…
I move amendment No. 22:
In page 16, to delete lines 12 and 13 and substitute the following:
“ “relative” means, in relation to a person, a parent, grandparent, son, daughter, grandchild, sibling, aunt or uncle of the person by blood, adoption, marriage or civil partnership;”.
This amendment changes the definition of "relative" by taking first cousins out of the definition. This definition aligns with the definiti…
I move amendment No. 23:
In page 16, line 26, to delete “the consultant” and substitute “a consultant”.
These are technical amendments to correct various typographical errors in the Bill as initiated.
I move amendment No. 24:
In page 16, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following:
“ “responsible person” has the meaning assigned to it in section 164;”.
Amendment No. 24 inserts a definition of "responsible person" in section 2, stating that "responsible person" has the definition assigned to it in section 164.
Amendment No. 229 provides for the deletion of the "responsible person" definition in section 138…
I move amendment No. 25:
In page 16, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following:
“ “service provider” has the meaning assigned to it in section 20;”.
These amendments relate to the definition of a "service provider". Amendment No. 25 inserts the definition in section 2. Amendment No. 35 corrects a typographical error. Amendment No. 36 provides for the definition of "service provider" to be deleted elsewhere.
I move amendment No. 27:
In page 17, line 17, to delete “, in the case of an adult, a person” and substitute “an adult”.