I know.

That is inaccurate. At 9.30 a.m., for example, I looked at how many suicide crisis assessment nurses, SCANs, we had in the country. I secured another 12 for this year and we have 22 in place. There are four SCANs in Cork. They are suicide reduction nurses who work with GPs. It is the only area in the country that has four SCANs. Dublin does not even have four SCANs. I visited the Mallow primary care centre and the CAMHS team there. There are 17 and half whole-time equivalents in the CAMHS team in Mallow. It has the…

It is taxpayers' money.

Let me take this opportunity to refer again to supports. The supports were launched on 1 September. The website yourmentalhealth.ie is our website for all mental health supports and services across the board, and yourmentalhealth.ie/men is for men’s services. Fifty per cent of the 300 who followed up came through their GPs. I thank the Irish College of General Practitioners. The GPs meet online every month. In September, 1,200 of them met online. My team explained the new counselling supports to them. It explained …

I will be very brief. These amendments are all technical or smaller in nature, while others fix typographical errors that need to be fixed. They arise because we have amended the Bill substantially with so many amendments. I will give an example. Amendments Nos. 353 and 360 correct the reference to “section” in both instances with “Act”, and amendment No. 370 replaces the plural “sections” with the singular “section”. The amendments are all typographical.

I understand the thrust of what the Senator was trying to achieve. We spent a lot of time yesterday and today speaking about patient advocacy services and national advocacy services and they will happen. I am at one with the Senator in wanting to make sure people in mental health facilities have access to advocacy services and can make a complaint if they wish to do so. That will follow when this part of the Bill has been enacted and I have already started the work on it.

Amendments Nos. 374 to 383, inclusive, have been grouped. These amendments are placed in Parts 8 and 9 of the Bill and relate exclusively to references to the Mental Health Act in other enactments. As the Mental Health Act 2001 will be repealed in due course with the full commencement of this enactment, it was necessary to ensure that all references to the Mental Health Act are updated. One of the key amendments in this grouping is amendment No. 374. This amendment allows a registered proprietor of a registered acu…

I might speak briefly on this amendment, as it is the last opportunity I have to thank everyone who has sat here for close to 19 hours, maybe 19 and a half hours, over six sessions. This landmark legislation will update and modernise our mental health laws. The enactment of this Bill has been a long-standing priority for me and for Government, and I look forward to bringing the Bill to Report Stage shortly. In particular, I thank Senator Costello for attending each and every session and speaking to many of the amen…

I would not either.

I thank James and Lorraine, who are sitting behind me. They are not finished yet, so I was not going to thank them at this stage. I want to say one thing, and he will kill me. James Kelly has been working on this Bill for six years. He has given six years to this Bill from start to finish. That is some dedication. I have worked with James and Lorraine for five years on the Bill. I thank them for that. I acknowledge Andrea and representatives of the College of Psychiatry and Mental Health Reform who have been here. …

The amendments in this grouping change the words ", or refuse to consent to," with "or refuse". This is being done to ensure consistency in language across the Bill.

Amendments Nos. 165 and 166 are minor wording changes, adding "responsible" in front of "consultant psychiatrist" in the former and replacing the word "another" consultant with "second" consultant These amendments are to ensure consistency in language across the Bill. Amendment No. 168 moves the existing section 64(4)(b) to new section 61(5). This is not a new policy, but instead places the provision in a more appropriate section. It provides that where a capacity assessment is being carried out on a child, it is d…

I will speak briefly to this because I have spoken at length about restrictive practices. I have also spoken about the huge advances we have made in the reduction of restrictive practices. The Senator refers specifically to children in this case. Any use of restrictive practice must be proportionate, in rare and exceptional circumstances, for the shortest duration possible and where there is no safe alternative. Any child who is involuntarily detained in an approved centre would be very ill. That is the first thing…

I welcome any opportunity we get to discuss mental health in these Houses. Last night, for example, Sinn Féin had a motion on crisis intervention and supports, which I accepted. We had a very good debate. Any opportunity we get to discuss mental health in both Houses is very important. I will always show up, as the Senator knows, for any debate relating to mental health. I am never found wanting in that way. It is important that we get the opportunity. I thank everyone who is present, the same people who have consi…

I will be brief as well because we have spent a lot of time discussing this issue. The reason I feel so strongly about this – it is not all down to me, because everything is a team effort – is that there are now practices in place whereby consultants, psychiatrists and multidisciplinary teams look at the situation and make a decision on that basis. I do not see any reason for the numbers to increase, however. The reason is that there are more community supports than ever before; 95% of all those with an eating diso…

These amendments as a whole relate to the sections concerning the involuntary admission of children and related matters, such as the application to the District Court to involuntarily admit a child, the application to the District Court to renew an application or seek the discharge of a child, the right to appeal a decision to the Circuit Court and the introduction of safeguards for children and young people, such as the right to receive information. The amendments in this grouping are generally smaller in nature. …

Sorry, is the Senator referring to amendment No. 234?

May I confirm that we are discussing amendments Nos. 173, 174 and 177? Is that right?

The Senators have moved on more quickly than I have.

That is fine, Senator. It is just there are so many amendments and we have spent a lot of hours on the Bill. Amendment No. 217 proposes: In page 77, lines 34 to 36, to delete all words from and including "she—" in line 34 down to and including line 36 and substitute "she is a relative of the child concerned.". Is that the amendment to which Senator Black referred?