Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-10
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Mary Butler (FF), Waterford

As Senators may be aware, it is already mandatory for Ireland to comply with both UN conventions. Ireland signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities optional protocol in 2024. That protocol establishes a complaints mechanism whereby individuals or groups of individuals who claim to be the victim of a violation of the convention by a state party, may refer a communication to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Under the optional protocol, a state party recognises the competence of the committee to receive and consider such communications. Communications are subject to certain admissibility criteria, including a requirement to exhaust all available domestic remedies. Throughout the drafting of this Bill, there was an acute awareness at every point of Ireland's obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Bill has been subjected to extensive legal advice and ongoing consultation with the Attorney General's office. My officials and officials in the Attorney General's office considered each provision in light of our commitments under these conventions. I believe the Bill is compliant with these conventions within the State's understanding of both conventions when we ratified them. A process was already in place to adhere to the convention and optional protocol. Specifically, the State's mechanism for implementing the convention is the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which is led by the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality. The strategy sets out a whole-of-government approach to disability over the next five years. This means that Departments and State bodies are responsible for planning and delivering commitments across various sectors. There is already accountability on the part of the State directly to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ireland is regularly reviewed for compliance at its periodic reviews and issues of non-compliance by the State can be raised at any time. Ireland ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992. Again, there is a process in place to monitor the convention. More specifically, Ireland's compliance with this convention is reviewed by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. We will continue to be held accountable by the committee for compliance with the convention through periodic reviews.
Given the structures in place, I am assured that there are appropriate mechanisms and processes in place to deal with the issues raised by the Senator by way of the amendment. It is unclear what the amendment would provide for beyond the provisions contained in the Bill itself and the already mandatory compliance by the State with both conventions. As provided for in section 10, what is in the best interests of the child is the primary consideration in any decision to be made concerning a child and his or her mental healthcare and treatment. The primacy of the best interests clause aligns directly with the UN. Considering the potential unintended consequences of this amendment and the fact that Ireland must already comply with both conventions, I cannot accept the amendment.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:26+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-10