Mental Health Bill 2024: From the Seanad
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-29
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Liam Quaide (SD), Cork East

I commend the Minister of State on the epic undertaking that has been the very complex journey of this Bill and the vast amount of work she has put into it. It is fair to say that it is not a perfect Bill but it is a substantial improvement on the existing legislation. In the round, the Social Democrats are happy to support it.
A number of important improvements were made to the Bill when it was before the Seanad process. Those are very welcome. In particular, I refer to the prohibition on the use of electroconvulsive therapy on minors. That is both significant and welcome, as are the stronger provisions around capacity assessments and the removal of a provision that would have allowed a consultant psychiatrist override the treatment refusal of a person with capacity for up to 72 hours pending a High Court decision.
As we know, the extension of mental health commission regulation into CAMHS and community adult mental health services was already part of the Bill prior to the Seanad process, as was the clear recognition of the rights of 16- and 17-year-olds to consent to mental health treatment. Both of those measures are very progressive.
The fact that a dedicated section on pharmacological restraint has been introduced is also positive. There was a serious gap in oversight there that needed to be addressed. I think that can be improved on further with the tighter definition that Mental Health Reform has proposed. There are issues that are a cause for disappointment, particularly around independent advocacy and independent complaints mechanisms. We really need to address those issues.
I echo the call by my colleagues for a nearer term review of the legislation. The idea of a child in serious distress who needs urgent clinical assessment and therapeutic supports and that potentially happening in a Garda station is a cause for concern.
In relation to independent complaints and advocacy, as I said, what has transpired in Kerry CAMHS, particularly what transpired in Bloomfield Hospital despite the consecutive very high compliance ratings that the Mental Health Commission applied to that facility, has made the case for those safeguards very compelling. This is something we need to come back to. Overall, however, I welcome this Bill, and I commend the Minister of State on 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