I welcome the Minister of State and his team to the House. This legislation is long overdue. It is very important legislation. It is crucial that we get it right and that the Government listens and takes on board the views of the Oireachtas and the joint committee, which I commend on its pre-legislative report, which I have taken the time to read in advance of today's debate. The House will forgive me for holding out little hope, given that so much of the Oireachtas committee report seems to have been ignored in th…

I float between Dublin Bay South and Dublin South-Central.

I was going to speak at length, but at this stage of the debate I rise just to support the motion, to commend my colleague, Senator Ó Donnghaile, on his tireless work on this issue and to thank the Passport Office staff who have done incredible work combining the Brexit chaos with the Covid-19 pandemic. I recognise that work. There are two things that stand out for me. First, we have learned under freedom of information requests that for the first time more people from the North have applied for an Irish rather tha…

We had a very good Private Members' debate on night-life and the night-time economy prior to the summer recess. In our pre-budget submission we called for special exemption orders to be abolished in full and to be waived until the sale of alcohol Bill goes through the Oireachtas. While I welcome the Government's commitment to halve those fees, I take this opportunity to say they are a racket. Between 2008 and 2019, there was a 56% reduction in the granting of special exemption orders, SEOs, which allow nightclubs a…

I will speak about amendment No. 58. There is some concern around this amendment given its potential implications for the bodily integrity of people with psychosocial disabilities. It is a form of substitute decision making that runs contrary to the requirements of the UNCRPD. I urge the Minister to look at the amendments Senators Black, Hoey and I have tabled on advance healthcare directives. The Minister acknowledged there is some work to be done on this and indicated that the Minister of State with responsibilit…

There are concerns that it could take years for the Mental Health Act 2001 to be reformed. Is that a worry people should have?

There is something that I want to put on the record regarding the Mental Health Commission, which launched its 2021 annual report recently. It stated criteria for involuntary detention is quite wide-ranging, as it stands, in the Mental Health Act. People can go in voluntarily and unexpectedly be made to stay involuntarily. The Mental Health Commission 2021 report states: "If a voluntary patient indicates a wish to leave an approved centre they can be detained if the staff are of the opinion that the patient is suff…

I move amendment No. 4: In page 8, after line 35, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 3 of Principal Act 5. The Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 3: “Recognition of legal capacity 3. (1) Legal capacity means the ability to hold rights and duties and to exercise these rights and duties. (2) The exercise of legal capacity may be achieved either— (a) by the relevant person, acting legally independently, and with decision-making supports and reasonable accommod…

I withdraw this amendment and retain the right to resubmit it on Report Stage.

I will accept the ruling of the Chair.

I move amendment No. 5: In page 9, to delete lines 36 to 40.

Speaking on this section and my earlier amendment No. 4, with the leave of the Chair, this amendment concerned the amending of section 3 of the Act and the recognition of legal capacity. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act was drafted to enable Ireland to ratify the UNCRPD. However, the Act remains non-compliant with the UNCRPD. This is because the Act contains a functional test of mental capacity as a means of determining whether a relevant person can exercise his or her legal capacity. This approach resul…

I move amendment No. 6: In page 10, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: "Amendment of section 8 of Principal Act 8. Section 8 of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following: "(11) The guiding principles contained in subsections (1) to (10) shall be interpreted consistently with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in particular, Article 12, and General Comment 1 of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.".". Will …

I thank the Acting Chair for his patience. The idea behind the amendment was that now that we have ratified the CRPD, embedding an explicit requirement for the courts to interpret the Act in a manner that gives effect to the convention strengthens the potential for the Act to be interpreted in a manner compatible with Ireland's human rights obligations. The Act was continually referred to by successive Ministers during its development as being an essential part of Ireland's preparation to ratify the UN convention. …

Like the last number of amendments, I am happy to withdraw it and come back on Report Stage.

I move amendment No. 31: In page 38, to delete lines 12 to 21. Section 46 of the Bill amends section 59 of the 2015 Act to remove the option to grant powers to consent or refuse health treatment from an enduring power of attorney. This means individuals who wish to confer powers to consent or refuse health treatment on a trusted supporter at a time when they are not able to communicate their wishes will have to complete a separate advance healthcare directive even if they are also making an enduring power of attorn…

I understand Senator Clonan would like to comment on amendment No. 32.

Why is there constitutional difficulty if we are told all the time that physical healthcare decisions can be made by 16- and 17-year-olds without consent?

It would have been good to welcome our Maltese colleagues but I look forward to the day we can celebrate the independence of our island from Britain. I commend Malta, as an island nation on the periphery of Europe, on its support during the Brexit negotiations and on being a leader in Europe and across the world in the area of LGBT rights. Malta was the first country in Europe to ban conversion therapy in an Act on which I based the Bill I introduced here. Every day, young people and students are boarding overcrowd…

I welcome the Minister and his officials to the House. This is a very long overdue step in addressing the legal rights of the individuals and families who died and were disappeared in institutional contexts for too long. They are individuals and families who have been impacted by so-called historical institutional abuse and have been sidelined. Indeed, while this is an important step forward, it saddens me to note that those who will be directly impacted continue to have to learn about developments through the pres…