Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-09
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Victor Boyhan (IND), Agricultural Panel

I will come back to the Minister of State to ensure we are clear and all on the one page on something. We are discussing the fifth group of amendments. I have called them all out. They are all in the Minister of State's name. I am very aware of my amendment No. 36a. The Minister of State is also very aware of it and I thank her for reminding me. Of course, she will be dealing with that. I will be pushing the case and she will be responding with her own view and considered opinion, which I respect. However, we are now dealing with this set of amendments. This is the process. We have Standing Orders and this is what has been agreed. I did not agree these groupings or put them together. I just work with what is presented to us. The Minister of State is endorsing this particular group of amendments. All I am asking for is absolute clarity in relation to this section. If we have to repeat the thing five times, so be it - we can repeat the thing five times. However, we have to take it incrementally. These are the amendments the Minister of State has put before us in this grouping. I just want absolute clarity on them. I do not want qualified support or a qualified endorsement. I want an absolute endorsement that this fifth group of amendments, the amendments we are currently discussing, are fully in compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
We are signatories to both. This legislation cannot proceed if it is in conflict with these UN conventions. The Minister of State might suggest it can, but I put it respectfully to her that it cannot. I have sought advice on it which I am happy to share with her. The Irish Government is a signatory and has signed up to these conventions. They are not for us to decide to pick or disregard because this is primary legislation we are doing here. I am somewhat surprised that the Minister of State is suggesting she will discuss it later. Of course she will discuss it later. I am asking her, in relation to this set of amendments, to give that assurance. She can either do it or she cannot do it. I will come back in after I listen to her response.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:26+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-09