Mental Health Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-16
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Laura Harmon (LAB), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. I wish to talk about my amendment No. 38. It states:
In page 26, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following:
“Review of independent advocacy services
11. (1) The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, conduct a review of the provision of independent advocacy services to persons in receipt of mental health services, and shall cause a report on the review to be published and laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas.
(2) The review conducted under subsection (1) shall examine—
(a) the merits of providing for a statutory right for every person receiving mental health services to obtain independent advocacy services in order to support the person in understanding and exercising his or her rights,
(b) the effectiveness of the current arrangements by which a person receiving mental health services can obtain independent advocacy services, and any improvements to the timeliness and accessibility of those arrangements, and
(c) whether an appropriate operational, structural and financial independence in relation to the provision of such advocacy services is achieved under the current arrangements.”.
The amendment would require the Minister to publish a report on existing advocacy arrangements and examine the merits of legislating for a right to advocacy. We believe that a key omission from the Bill is the absence of a statutory right to independent advocacy for people subject to involuntary detention and treatment. It is very welcome that the Minister of State has made a commitment to looking at introducing the statutory right to advocacy through secondary legislation. This amendment, however, would enshrine that at the heart of this Bill. This legislation is the most significant change to mental health laws in this country in a generation and the right to advocacy should be included in it.
We believe the Minister of State needs to deliver what has been promised now, and the purpose of this amendment is to hold the Government to account on this crucial issue. This right is essential to protecting the dignity, autonomy and voice of individuals in inherently vulnerable and maybe coercive circumstances, particularly where treatment occurs without consent. Access to an independent advocate ensures that people can exercise their rights and express their wishes and concerns. Comparable protections exist in England, Scotland and Wales. A right to independent advocacy has been consistently identified as a top priority in consultations with people with lived experience of accessing mental health services in this country.
This amendment seeks to put in place a six-month timeline for a proper review of how we can best ensure that independent advocacy is delivered. The right to advocacy like this is of vital importance. It is essential to protect the dignity and voice of vulnerable people and essential to ensuring that we have a properly functioning mental health system. It is simply too important to omit. That is why we are proposing a structured review process with a clear timeline through this amendment. We believe that this is a very reasonable and sensible proposal to amend this legislation.
The review will examine how effective the current arrangements for independent advocacy are, how truly independent they are, and the operational, structural and financial terms, and would make a recommendation on whether we need to legislate for that statutory right to independent advocacy.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-16