Mental Health Bill 2024: From the Seanad
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-29
============================================================

Mary Butler (FF), Waterford

These amendments all relate to the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 and were introduced following extensive consultation between my Department and the Department of justice as well as consultation between both Departments and the Attorney General’s Office. The Department of justice is the Department with policy responsibility for this Act, so it was important that it supported all amendments. That Department carried out consultation with its own stakeholders, including the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Criminal Law Review Board. Officials in my own Department consulted with the National Forensic Mental Health Service regarding these amendments.
These amendments update the references throughout the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act from the Mental Health Act 2001 to the Mental Health Act 2026. This is a positive step, as it will ensure that both Acts are aligned and that people detained under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act can enjoy the additional safeguards and protections of the new Mental Health Act 2026. This includes the additional safeguards around consent to treatment and the use of restrictive practices.
In addition to the extensive consultation carried out, legal advice was provided to my Department and the Department of justice that provided assurances that the amendments were appropriate. These are two very complex Acts and they deal with very vulnerable people with acute mental disorders. I was delighted to be able to carry the amendments on Report Stage in the Seanad and I am assured that both Departments are satisfied with the changes. The inclusion of these amendments is a very positive development. It will better vindicate the rights of people detained under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 and ensure that this group of people will have access to the additional protections of the Mental Health Act 2026.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

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