Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-22
============================================================

Mary Butler (FF), Waterford

I thank Senator Black for the amendment but I am not in a position to accept it and I will set out the reasons. This is on the right of a person to continue with their hearing. A mental health review board hearing is discontinued following the discharge of a person unless the person requests that it be completed after they have been discharged. It is important to note that the right to continue this hearing and the timeline to request this continuation are outlined in the information provided to people when they are being discharged.
Senator Black said this could be difficult for some people but included in the Bill is the provision that everybody is entitled to a nominated person, and that nominated person could contact the Mental Health Commission on the person's behalf if they want to go ahead with the tribunal. I have spoken to many people who were involuntarily detained and whose status changed.
Making it statutory for the discharged individual to come back to the registered acute mental health centre to complete a review board hearing would be very triggering for that person. It would be extremely difficult for them to do that. When they are discharged from approved centres, many people want to move on with their lives and continue their recovery in the community. What we are doing in the Bill is giving them the option if they want to do it. If they are not in a position to facilitate that in writing, they have a nominated person who can do it for them. Some people who are involuntarily detained, for example, might have other issues as well. In many cases, they have social workers provided for them. I do not believe it is a good idea to make review board hearings automatic after a discharge but it is important the option is there. It should be the choice of the person whether or not the review board continues. For many who have been involuntarily detained for the first time, when their status changes and they go back home to the bosom of their families, to then have to face a tribunal for the first time would be difficult and challenging for them in their recovery.

---

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/2026-01-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:32+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-22