Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-20
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Mary Butler (FF), Waterford

I said I would not speak again on this amendment but as so many Senators have spoken on it, it would be rude of me not to touch on all that has been said. The criteria for involuntary admission are the result of extensive consultation over many years. That is the first point. The Bill broadly reflects the expert group's recommendations to revise the criteria for detention. It uncouples the criteria from the definition of mental disorder. On Senator Clonan's point, intellectual disability and dementia have been removed in the Bill as sole grounds for involuntary detention. I want to make that very clear. It is such a complicated Bill, with 220 sections, and it is hard to be over the detail of every single element of it.
The criteria in the Bill represent a narrowing of criteria on the grounds of both risk and treatment. Regarding the risk criteria, to be involuntarily detained, a person must be at risk of immediate and serious harm to his or her life or health or that of another person. Furthermore, the detention of the person must be likely to benefit his or her condition or to reduce his or her risk to self or others. That is what the Bill says in black and white.
Regarding treatment criteria, the person must require the treatment immediately. The treatment required can only be given in an inpatient setting. Quite a lot of people with enduring mental health conditions need treatment that cannot be provided outside of an inpatient setting. In addition, the treatment must be likely to materially benefit the person's condition. That is what the Bill says.
The criteria in the Bill, I believe, represent an appropriate balance between ensuring a high level of protection and ensuring involuntary admission is available when needed. To be very clear, a person is not detained involuntarily because he or she lacks capacity. That is a fact. Capacity fluctuates every day and sometimes within a day. Somebody might decide in the morning that he or she does not want any family involvement or any support from friends or family and then change his or her mind by that afternoon. If lack of capacity is a criterion for admission, then a person must be released if he or she regains capacity after a day. We need to think about what is being proposed. Somebody cannot just be involuntarily detained on the basis that he or she lacks capacity because his or her capacity could change ten times that day.
I want to be very clear.
The Bill as currently set out revises the criteria for detention. It is the biggest facet of the Bill. It revises the criteria for detention and uncouples the criteria from the definition of mental disorder. Intellectual disability and dementia have been removed. Therefore, any child or adult will not be involuntarily detained just because he or she has an intellectual disability or dementia. Thank God, we have gone so far away from that. The criteria in the Bill represent both a narrowing of criteria both on the grounds of risk and on the grounds of treatment. Regarding the risk criteria, a person must be at risk of immediate and serious harm to his or her health or their life or that of another person. We will discuss that later. Furthermore, the detention of the person must be likely to benefit his or her condition or must be likely to reduce his or her risk to self or others. I will leave it at that, but I do believe what is being proposed in the Bill is appropriate and it needs to happen, to be honest.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-01-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-20