Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-20
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Frances Black (IND), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I move amendment No. 74:
In page 39, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following:
“(7) The consultant psychiatrist responsible for the care and treatment of an involuntarily admitted person shall, as soon as is practicable but not later than 24 hours after the making of an involuntary admission order and any renewal order in respect of an involuntarily admitted person, inform the person of the availability of independent advocacy services and how to access them.”.
There have been continuous calls from Mental Health Reform for this provision based on repeated consultations with individuals with lived experience who speak about the different this could make to them. I am very conscious of that. A recent op-ed by Dr. Charles O'Mahony, a human rights legal expert with particular expertise in mental health law, called advocacy one of the most basic safeguards for people involuntarily detailed in mental health services. I will not go on because I have already spoken about this. We all know from lived-experience testimonials, which he had at the recent audiovisual room briefing where individuals repeatedly spoke about how traumatic being in the mental health services can be, the difference an advocate can make. I have already spoken on this earlier.

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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