Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-10
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Nessa Cosgrove (LAB), Labour Panel

This also relates to amendment No. 41, which is on the same lines. I can wait and contribute at that stage, but I might as well make my point now.
I hear exactly what the Minister of State is saying about the timeframe and not wanting to put in the 72 hours. I worked for a long time as a youth worker. I worked with CAMHS, and I was involved with many young people who ended up going to Merlin Park. I can see the point about not having the 72 hours without safeguards. The Minister of State 100% brought down the waiting lists, which is amazing, and it is fantastic to see that admissions to adult wards reduced. That has to be commended big time. However, in the absence of safeguards on the 72 hours that young people can stay in adult wards, what are the chances it will just go back up again?
The Minister of State explained that she does not want to put this in. However, are we not at this stage just legislating for failure, rather than making a commitment? If we have the 72 hours, and have a specific time frame so young people cannot stay longer than 72 hours, will that not be a commitment and put pressure to build the adequate infrastructure and have the adequate staffing levels that are needed? This might apply in particular to the north west. It is wonderful to have the children's hospital, with all the money that has gone into it, but there are not enough emergency beds for the young people who need them. It is about putting in safeguards to ensure it cannot be longer than 72 hours. If that were put in at the same time, in tandem, there could be a commitment to ensure that the next Government or future governments would do this, because it might not be for this Government. If it were in there, would it not ensure there is adequate infrastructure to address young people's mental health?

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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