I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh and the members of the LGBT+ Restorative Justice Campaign, Kieran Rose, Brian Sheehan, Karl Hayden and others, for their work. I am delighted to co-sign this Bill on behalf of the Social Democrats. It is now 32 years since homosexuality was decriminalised, but some men are still living with the negative impact of criminalisation. Let us be clear: the prosecutions and convictions of gay and bi men for consensual sex was a gross violation of their human rights and did immeasurable damage. Th…

Access to symptomatic breast disease clinics has become a postcode lottery. Following an urgent GP referral, a person should be seen by a clinic within two weeks. However, timely access to these clinics varies widely. Last year, only four out of nine hospitals met the target of seeing 95% of urgent referrals within two weeks. The other five failed. The Mater Hospital only reached 29%, St. James's Hospital 51% and Letterkenny 58%. Some of these are shocking failures. It should not matter where one lives; no person s…

One report states that one in four people waited longer than recommended for an appointment at these urgent clinics. I would like to share with the Minister the experiences of two women from north Dublin. They had to wait for in excess of the two-week period to be seen by the Mater's symptomatic breast clinic. In February, one woman was referred by GP due to the presence of two lumps in her breast. However, when the Mater Hospital received the referral, she was told the waiting time to be seen had risen to three mo…

We absolutely need better planning here. A lot of this comes back to staffing. Greater resources must be allocated specifically to breast clinics to ensure adequate staffing throughout the country, regardless of where people live. To secure cancer care pathways greater workforce planning is required but this cannot be siloed in the Department of Health. We need joined-up thinking. The Departments of Health and higher education must work together to ensure people are able to access places on various healthcare cours…

A number of patient advocacy groups and parents have for a long time been calling for this report to be published. I urge the Minister to consider that and to consider publishing that report along with the others. What we have seen time and again from CHI are issues around transparency, accountability and a reluctance to release information, and we have had to drag that information from the organisation, which is deeply concerning. It indicates to me that the culture in the organisation is not changing. This is ano…

I thank the Minister. There are ways of publishing these reports that anonymise the individuals and redact information that is key but then provide full transparency and accountability because trust in this organisation is now at an all-time low. Families are deeply concerned. We need more information released and more publications. Sunlight is a good disinfectant and CHI has been at every stage reluctant to release information to us. I also raise concerns about some of the answers to parliamentary questions we are…

Tens of thousands of people will march through the streets of Dublin this weekend for Dublin Pride, a celebration of love, diversity and liberation. However, Pride is more than a party. It is a protest. Ten years on from marriage equality, progress has slowed. Hate crimes are rising and there is no plan to bring down the numbers. The gaps in family law have not been closed, conversion therapy has not been banned and Ireland has the worst trans healthcare in the EU. The Government's sexual health strategy, published…

They are €400,000 in our own constituency.

I have just come in from the protest outside the gates of the House. There is a huge crowd of people outside protesting about the Government's failed policies. We have nurses, students, young people, renters and representatives from all the political parties. They have one really clear message: it is that the Government's housing policies are failing. Things are getting worse and not better, yet the Government is doubling down. What we hear constantly from the Government is that we have turned a corner. Honestly, i…

The special long-Covid scheme for healthcare workers is due to end in two weeks' time creating huge financial uncertainty for healthcare workers still suffering from long Covid. These workers were exposed to Covid in healthcare settings at the height of the pandemic when many others were told to remain at home. Some of these got Covid before PPE and vaccines were in place. They made a huge sacrifice and we owe them a debt of gratitude but it seems like the State is going to turn its back on them. These workers shou…

The "RTÉ Investigates" programme was shocking, disturbing and difficult viewing. Nobody in this country should be treated in that way. It is clear that the nursing homes in question were understaffed and under-resourced and patients were treated in an appalling manner. What concerns me and many of us is that this is a repeat of the scandals of the past. What we are seeing is history repeating itself. We saw Leas Cross 20 years ago. Deputies have set out previous scandals. Time and time again we have had failure aft…

I add our support to the amendment and say it is clear that people are falling through the cracks, being pushed from pillar to post and not getting the services and supports they need. There are real concerns, in particular, around addiction and substance abuse supports for people. In my city of Cork, it is a massive issue and there is a lack of supports and services there. There are also people with mental health issues. We support those amendments, particularly the guiding principles they seek to insert in the le…

Many of the amendments in this group were tabled by my colleague, Deputy Liam Quaide, who, unfortunately, cannot be here. He sends his apologies. The amendments seek to delete the term "mental disorder" and substitute it with "mental health difficulty". Many key stakeholders have raised concerns about the continued use of "mental disorder" in the Bill. I note the Minister has brought forward an amendment to expand the definition of "mental disorder", but the term itself remains problematic. The Psychological Societ…

On the definition before us, amendment No. 13 states, ""mental disorder” means, in relation to a person, any mental illness or mental health difficulty". If the Deputy has a problem with the term "mental health difficulty", he is actually speaking against the Government amendment. I seek some clarity on that. The new definition of mental disorder we are seeing in amendment No. 13 includes "illness or mental health difficulty". I would like some clarity on that.

I move amendment No. 17: In page 14, line 36, to delete “a mental disorder” and substitute “mental health difficulties”.

I move amendment No. 21: In page 16, line 1, to delete “a mental disorder” and substitute “mental health difficulties”.

I move amendment No. 26: In page 17, line 9, to delete “a mental disorder” and substitute “mental health difficulties”.

I want to express my concerns about children being moved to adult psychiatric services. I say respectfully to the Minister of State that if she does not want to tie the hands of consultants, the best way to do that would be to ensure there are services and supports for people. I agree with the suggestion that this issue around 16- and 17-year-olds should be considered as part of the review of the Act. I welcome that the review will now happen within five years rather than ten. I would be interested to hear, with re…

As regards involuntary detention under section 12, the note I have from the Psychological Society of Ireland says that the threshold for involuntary detention appears to be lower than section 12 criteria for involuntary admission to registered acute mental health centres. The society expresses its deep concern and urges restoration of the higher safeguards before liberty is removed. I would be interested in the Minister of State's response to those concerns.

I asked the Minister of State questions about section 12 and I do not think I got a response. I raised the concerns of the Psychological Society of Ireland about the lowering of the threshold, whether the Minister of State agreed the threshold was lowered in section 12 for involuntary admission and what her response was to the deep concern expressed by the Psychological Society of Ireland in urging the restoration of a higher threshold and higher safeguards before the deprivation of liberty.