Starting with Senators Black and Harmon, who raised the same issue, these amendments propose the replacement or removal of the term "due weight". We discussed that at length and felt it was more appropriate to remove it from the wording. I thank Senator Harmon for withdrawing her amendment, particularly as the issues she raised are dealt with in amendment No. 37. In the context of what Senator Costello said, the Mental Health Commission will be responsible for publishing codes of practice in relation to capacity as…

If a child has a mental illness or mental disorder, whether they are self-harming, suicidal or dealing with any of the myriad issues children face - in many cases, it could be emotional distress or bullying - due weight has to be given to their voice. It is important that the voice of the young child, young teenager or young person is heard. It is important their voice is included because you cannot just decide to treat a young person in a certain way. Parents sometimes do not agree with certain types of treatment.…

I agree with the Senator wholeheartedly. That why I focused on supporting older people in budget 2026. We are very lucky in Ireland to have one of the highest life expectancies in the European Union. Women here live a little longer than men. Notwithstanding what the Senator said just now, the facts bear that out. We have very high longevity, thank God. We have invested greatly in the last five years. When I was Minister of State with responsibility for older people, we invested in home care, day care, meals on whee…

I dealt with this comprehensively last week. We spent a lot of time debating it. I wish the Senator well now that she is back again. She was keeping up with the debates. When we are invested in a Bill, we all do that. I am glad the Senator is well again. I will take this opportunity to remind everyone that there is an awful flu circulating and if we can, we should encourage our older loved ones, our children and our vulnerable as regards the flu vaccine that is there to support people. We have a huge amount of peop…

I believe there is a balanced approach in the Bill to mental health treatment, enshrining the best interests of the child as the primary consideration in all decisions. I believe that we have done that. We started drafting this Bill four and a half years ago. There are 220 sections in it. We are on section 10. I have been on my feet now for the fourth time in the last two weeks and I will continue to come in and be on my feet. I thank the Senators for facilitating that as well. That is important to put on the recor…

I will try to wrap this up, because I want to move on. We spent a lot of time debating this last week. If I have to stay here until I turn 60, I will do so. I will not legislate to put children into adult wards. I am amazed that the Opposition is asking me to legislate to put children into adult wards for up to 72 hours. I will never do that. As I said, there have been two children put into wards so far this year. That is not down to me. I have led on this matter, but it is down to all of the staff working day and …

The Senator stated that they were incarcerated. I ask him to withdraw that. If he looks up the dictionary, and I did, he will see what the word "incarcerated" means. I do not think he meant it, but I would love for it to be withdrawn from the record.

I am not deflecting.

Not at the moment.

Yes.

They were 17.

That is the information that was given to me.

No. What I am speaking to in this Bill is the public sector, our approved centres the length and breadth of the country. I am not speaking to private facilities, which do not come under my remit per se, although they do come under the Mental Health Commission in relation to governance and obtaining a permit to provide the supports for those who are detained voluntarily and involuntarily. The information that was given to me was until October, so I do not have the numbers from-----

The information I have is that two young people, with the support of their parents, were in an adult facility for a very short period. If I legislate for that not to happen, there will be cases of young persons, who are a risk to themselves or others, being left out of a facility overnight. We all know what might happen then. That is the first point. The second point is that if we legislate to allow such placements for up to 72 hours, I would be afraid that the trend would reverse because people might say there is …

That is through the service level agreement.

In relation to private capacity, we have service level agreements with some of the private hospitals. I will give an example. When St. Loman's Hospital was closed in Wexford in 2011 additional capacity was bought at University Hospital Waterford for Wexford and Waterford patients. We have a service level agreement with St. Patrick's in Dublin. That would not be unusual. There are people who have been involuntarily detained in private facilities as well. We need to focus on a child who has been involuntarily detaine…

I move: Tuesday's business shall be: - Motion re Referral to Joint Committee of Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) (No. 2) Regulations 2025 (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately) - Motion re Appointment of Members of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately) - Motion re Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately) - Motion re R…

There I was thinking the spirit of Christmas might have landed on the very last day-----

-----and that the Order of Business might be agreed. I contacted all the Whips last Saturday to let them know that, following a request from Deputy Collins, and after speaking to the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, the Ministers would like to facilitate statements on fisheries. That is being facilitated tomorrow afternoon. It will be a full round, so that limits the amount of other time that is available. I remind all Whips from the Opposition parties that they can use their time …

I thank the Senator for raising the important issue of why the school dental service in Killybegs, County Donegal has not been restored since the retirement of the previous dentist. The HSE oral healthcare service aims to provide an oral examination and necessary treatment for children at the approximate ages they are in second and sixth class and, in some cases, fourth class. Emergency care is provided to children of all ages up to 16 and for those with complex and additional needs. The Minister for Health is awar…