Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-17
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Teresa Costello (FF), Agricultural Panel

I thank the Minister of State and welcome what she said. I had concerns about the changes involved and spoke to the Minister of State openly about them. Being a mother, I nearly think of 18-year-olds as children. I know there is the Gillick competency test. This was something I was looking at in the context of the capacity to consent and in establishing if a child possesses that capacity between the ages of 16 and 18. I would like to flesh this out a bit more. Who is going to have the responsibility for determining if those between the ages of 16 and 18 have capacity? What kind of testing - and I know this is probably down the road - will be undertaken to establish that they have capacity? Again, I welcome the Minister of State's acknowledgement of the safeguarding needed in respect of this matter. I think that is so important.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:28+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-17