Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed) Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-20 ============================================================ Mary Butler (FF), Waterford Amendment No. 56, tabled by Senator Boyhan, relates to safeguards for consent to treatment. I introduced a significant number of amendments on Committee Stage in the Dáil to improve the operation of the consent to treatment provisions in the Bill and to strike an appropriate balance between respecting the autonomy of individuals while at the same time ensuring that people have access to treatment when they need it. I considered the interventions on the Bill on Committee and Report Stages in the Dáil and representations from stakeholders. This has informed a number of amendments I am introducing here on Committee Stage to better protect and safeguard the rights of involuntarily admitted people. These amendments set time limits within which capacity assessments must be completed. They also set an outer limit for when capacity assessments must be carried out. In addition to the amendments already discussed, this is to narrow the criteria for admission and treatment with the introduction of the word "materially". It is necessary to find the appropriate balance between ensuring the necessary safeguards and protections are in place for people deprived of their liberty while also acknowledging the reality of treating people in acute mental distress in an often highly pressurised environment. The Bill I have brought to the Seanad represents that balance. Regarding amendment No. 68, tabled by Senator Ryan, I spoke to this exact Sinn Féin amendment on Committee Stage in the Dáil and raised grave concerns about the consequences of it being accepted. The amendment would give rise to a serious regression in the rights of people in the involuntary admission process. The Mental Health Act 2001 only permits a person to be held for 24 hours in an approved centre before either an admission order must be made or the person released. This timeframe has been retained in this Bill. Since being in this role, I have never had any complaints in relation to that timeframe in the 2001 Act. It would be a retrograde step to extend the period to 72 hours. We must remember that until an admission order has been made in respect of a person, that person is not involuntarily admitted. What is the logic of the Senators who proposed this amendment? I cannot see the rationale behind it. I have stood here over a number of weeks and have heard time and again about the need for a person-centred approach to mental health legislation from Opposition, including Sinn Féin. However, this amendment flies in the face of such an approach. It is absolutely vital that people are held for as short a period as possible before an involuntary admission order is made. Twenty-four hours should be the absolute upper limit. When we deprive someone of their liberty, we must ensure that strong legal safeguards are in place. While being admitted involuntarily can be a difficult experience for people, the admission ensures there are strong legal safeguards for that person. These include a right to an independent review of their admission, a statutory right to receive information, a statutory right to free legal representation and many other protections. To deprive a person of their liberty is a serious infringement of their rights and must be for as short a period as possible. Extending the period for which a person can be held, with an admission order being made to 72 hours, would seriously diminish the rights of that person. I urge Senators to reflect and think carefully about this particular amendment. Government amendment No. 107 states that an assessment of a person's capacity should take place based on the individual needs of each person but should be reviewed no less than once every fortnight. I brought forward this amendment to allay concerns from some stakeholders that the Bill does not contain a mandatory timeframe for the carrying out of capacity assessments. A person should be asked every day whether they feel that their capacity has changed. However, many people felt that a timeframe should be included in the Bill. As a result, such a timeframe will be written into the legislation such that people will be asked about their capacity no less than once every fortnight. Capacity assessments should be carried out according to the specific needs of each individual. At a service level, assessments of capacity happen regularly in approved centres as part of ongoing treatment. Officials in my Department carefully considered feedback received from stakeholders after the Bill passed all Stages in the Dáil last year. The result is amendment No. 107, which will ensure that there is a maximum period within which a person's capacity will be reassessed. This will prevent the danger that somebody might be left there for too many weeks and that it would still be thought they do not have capacity when they potentially could have it. Common sense would dictate that capacity will be regularly reassessed and the timeline for these assessments will be tailored to each person. Capacity can continue to be assessed at any point, including when a person's condition has changed. This amendment ensures that an assessment will have to take place no less than once every 14 days, even when a person's condition has not changed. This amendment introduces an additional important safeguard for involuntarily admitted people under this legislation. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. 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