Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-22
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Teresa Costello (FF), Agricultural Panel

We have spoken about the aspirations for this Bill. The bar should be very high, as the Minister of State said. What strikes me is what was said about recovery. We want to see people getting better. We want to see them recovering and returning to their lives. We want them to go back to their communities and families and living their lives again. That is what lies at the core of this matter, and it is what struck me during the debate. I commend those who did so on raising concerns about this.
I also think as a parent. However, and I have said this, that if it was my child who was 17 years of age, I would say put them into an adult facility for those 24 or 48 hours, have them monitored, make them better, get them home to me and let them have their life. I know this is not being said to prevent that. I acknowledge what happened in the past, but we are looking forward now. When we are out the other side of all this, recovery is going to be at the heart of it.

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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