Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-10
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Frances Black (IND), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I am a bit confused and I ask the Minister of State to bear with me. Before I speak about my confusion, I have heard what the Minister of State is saying about emergencies and about the anxiety and worry about the children. As a mother and a grandmother I would love to see child-centred mental health infrastructure. This is my dream. It is very important. If we had the proper staffing and the proper crisis response systems that ensured timely access to appropriate care, and if we could put those safeguards for children into the legislation, it would be the beginning of something. I do not want this to sound like pie in the sky because I do not believe it is.
I would also like to hear a little bit about independent advocacy. I would like to hear the Minister of State's own thoughts on the importance of this. What I am confused about is the 72 hours and the 48 hours. I asked about introducing a 72-hour maximum stay for emergency situations because it would be a very good compromise. Is the Minister of State saying this should be reduced to 48 hours? Is this going to be in the legislation? This is what I am asking.

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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