Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-29
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Victor Boyhan (IND), Agricultural Panel

I thank the Minister of State and her staff for coming to the House. She has given this a lot of time and I want to acknowledge that. It is important. I received a letter and communication from An Cathaoirleach informing me with regret that amendments Nos. 314a and 314b have been disallowed on account of a potential cost to the Exchequer. I will not get into the process of that today other than to say it is disappointing. It highlights significantly what is the importance of the commission.
Section 128 states that the functions of the chief inspector shall be to visit and inspect every registered acute mental health centre at least once in each registration period of three years and every registered community mental health centre at least once in each registration period of five years. All I was attempting to do was move that from once to twice. I do not think that was an unreasonable request but the Minister of State's hands are tied in that it is not a live amendment on the floor and I respect that. I just wanted to flag that to her in light of the various inspectorates' reports and their concerns.
This morning, I had another look at the Mental Health Commission and I do not want to spend too much time on this. Nevertheless, I want to check that a statement in the Mental Health Commission Annual Report 2024 is consistent with the Minster of State's understanding. Page 49 of that report states:
The Inspector of Mental Health Services visits and inspects every approved centre at least once each year. The Inspector prepares a report on their findings following the inspection. Each approved centre is given an opportunity to review and comment on any content or findings prior to publication.
In a funny way, I am scratching my head about that. If that is the case, that is good, but will that continue to be the case? Sometimes, we draw a distinction between primary legislation and secondary legislation to suit our own agenda. That is not necessarily to say the Minister of State is doing that. However, this is primary legislation and the body of all our debates here has concerned this issue of protecting the people and securing appropriate care for the people involved in the services. Is that still the Minister of State's understanding? Can we have that assurance that the inspector will do it every year? He is doing it every year now, or at least he has the ability to do it. He might not always have the capacity and he may to decide to carry out an inspection after 14 months. I understand that. No one in the approved centres should necessarily know the movements of the inspector. He can come unannounced or when he thinks it is appropriate. That is a good thing.
While my proposal was for twice a year, if the statement I quoted is correct, that gives me reassurance. I am not sure if that has changed or whether the Minister of State has received assurances on that.

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Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:34+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-29