Mental Health Bill 2024: From the Seanad
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-29
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Sorca Clarke (SF), Longford-Westmeath

Informing people of available advocacy services is a positive but it is not the same as giving them access. One of the concerns I have is if a person is detained and is frightened or overwhelmed, they may not be in a position to navigate the system alone or to use the information that is given to them. For a person in that position, the information is useless unless there is somebody there with them to help them navigate the system. There needs to be independent advocacy. It should be a practical right, not a theoretical option.
We need to look at the role of advocates in this regard, even down to things like understanding decisions and communicating effectively the person's will or preference. A legal right to advocacy could build confidence in our mental health system. Far too often, people express to me that they feel excluded and powerless in that system. If we genuinely believe in a rights-based mental health system, advocacy must be independent and available to the person from the first moment they are in a position to avail of it.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-29