Mental Health Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-16
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Victor Boyhan (IND), Agricultural Panel

No, I mean in the ratings they gave Bloomfield through their inspections. I do not want to reopen that. It is on the record. Shauna Bowers's article in The Irish Times covered that. I refer to the ratings they were giving for that place then versus what was found.
I want to move on and stay really focused on the amendments. It is so important. The amendment seeks that "In advance of the five-year review of the Act, the Mental Health Commission shall prepare and submit a report". I do not think it is too much if it is in the primary Act. Primary legislation is what we are dealing with. What are we doing? If it is all going to be secondary legislation, we might as well go home. We are here to work constructively with the Minister of State and her officials. If it is a good thing and it is happening twice, so be it; that is great. Never be afraid to say a good thing three or four times. Do it. I am not wasting paper. I do not want to waste space. I think what it would do - I say this genuinely - is send out a very strong message to people that yes, the Minister of State is listening. I do not say that she is not listening, but it would send out a message that we are hearing.
I had a caller today who said "I believe this Bill is going to be all guillotined, the usual, no parliamentary democracy in the whole place, bloody disgrace". I said "Hang on, we can only do our best." That is all any of us here can do. At the end of the day, sections of this Bill may never be enacted. That is the prerogative those responsible for the process of enacting the various sections. If the Government decides not to enact this at some other stage, I really cannot do anything about it. There may be people after the Minister of State who decide not to enact this particular legislation. I could tell the Minister of State of about ten pieces of legislation that are on the Statute Book for years without being enacted for various reasons. I know things move on, and there can be good reasons for this. I think we could send out a very clear message that we are listening and we are hearing; that we really are acknowledging the lived experience; that we are talking with and supporting families and their advocates, and that we are listening to the mental health professionals who are asking for this. It is not the case that it is just me, Victor Boyhan, coming up with another bit of an old angle. This is about the mental health professionals who are asking for this, it is about the advocacy organisations who are asking for this and it is about the relevant stakeholder bodies who are asking for it. I really cannot see why the Minister of State cannot give this her support and see it through into the primary legislation.

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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