I move amendment No. 55: In page 36, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: “Transfer from prison where person appears to fulfil criteria for involuntary admission 19. (1) Where a person detained in a prison appears to a registered medical practitioner, the Governor of the prison, or the Director General of the Irish Prison Service, to fulfil the criteria for involuntary admission under section 12, the matter shall be referred without delay to an authorised officer for assessment. (2) An authorised offic…

It is self-explanatory. Perhaps the Minister of State would like to respond briefly. That is her call. I am conscious of time; I think we all are. I do not want us going out of here saying we did not have sufficient time. We now have time and if we use it constructively we can complete this Bill within that time.

I note the Minister of State is concerned about capacity; she issued a press release from the Government Information Service which I have in front of me, "The Minister for Mental Health ... announced ... the recruitment of six new Suicide Crisis Assessment Nurse teams for primary care..." That is in the context that an "unprecedented 300 additional mental health staff will be recruited in 2026". I look forward to that recruitment. It was issued by the Government press office. It is related. It is not as many as we …

I am pressing it, yes.

I move amendment No. 65: In page 42, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following: “ Report on maximising autonomy 27. In advance of the five-year review of the Act, the Mental Health Commission shall prepare and submit a report reviewing strategies to maximise patient autonomy within mental health services. This report shall be developed in consultation with a broad range of stakeholders, including but not limited to: (a) people with lived experience; (b) family members and advocates; (c) mental health profess…

The amendment is about a report on maximising autonomy. I propose that in advance of the five-year review of the Act, the Mental Health Commission shall prepare and submit a report reviewing strategies to maximise patient autonomy within the mental health services. This report shall be developed in consultation with a broad range of stakeholders, including but not limited to people with the lived experience, family members and advocates, mental health professionals, mental health advocacy organisations and relevant…

It is quite frustrating. They are working under enormous pressure. They are working under enormous time constraints. It is very hard to recruit staff. Recently, I was told by someone in a recruitment agency that when they mention Tusla, no one nearly wants to apply. They ask what they are doing here with that shower. That is not correct and I want to correct that narrative. Tusla does amazing work on very complex issues, conflicting interests and families that are broken for various reasons through no fault of thei…

I thank the Minister of State. However, I do not agree with her: the key words are "in advance" of the five-year review of the Act. That is what I am asking for. Of course the Mental Health Commission will carry out reviews. As a matter of fact the Mental Health Commission is on a sort of three-year cycle. They are under pressure and they have limited resources. I took a look this morning at the latest reports up on their website. They are running slightly behind this time. They are under pressure so they have to p…

No, I mean in the ratings they gave Bloomfield through their inspections. I do not want to reopen that. It is on the record. Shauna Bowers's article in The Irish Times covered that. I refer to the ratings they were giving for that place then versus what was found. I want to move on and stay really focused on the amendments. It is so important. The amendment seeks that "In advance of the five-year review of the Act, the Mental Health Commission shall prepare and submit a report". I do not think it is too much if it …

I am pushing it.

I wish to speak on this. I know I speak for others here. We have had a lot of contacts from people in relation to electroconvulsive therapy treatment, ECT. It is commonly used. We have seen documentaries about it historically where no consent was given. This was forced ECT. People have had memory loss. I have a colleague who is a practising psychiatrist who told me of his concerns relating to patients who have presented to him, seeing someone go through electroconvulsive therapy and the preparation for that. He has…

I am shocked.

I am shocked at the Minister of State.

I move amendment No. 241: In page 137, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following: “Review and reporting on child and youth mental health services 144. (1) The Chief Inspector shall, within 12 months of the commencement of this section, undertake and publish a review of governance, clinical oversight, workforce capacity and risk management arrangements within child and adolescent mental health services and youth mental health services. (2) The review shall include— (a) an assessment of clinical governance and…

I am very conscious we are coming up to the deadline time on the clock, unless there has been a change I am not aware of. I will set out my concerns. I am not going to go into it at any great length as we have said it all before. The Minister of State mentioned being shocked earlier but I have been shocked through many parts of this Bill and I put on record I have had some engagement with a psychiatric nurse since I left here. I stand over everything I say. It is about being an advocate, coming in here and telling …

I have the prerogative to come back, of course, which is great. We rarely have that here. However, as I am the proposer and the first signature on this amendment, I do. Let us keep the focus on what this is about. It is about mental health. It is about reform of our mental health service. It is about a commitment to advocate for people who bring things to us. There are whistleblowers who bring issues to us and to the Minister of State. There are practitioners who bring issues to the her and to me, and I never take …

Senator Clonan is next.

I believe Senator Clonan is next.

I support the proposed Order of Business. I want to acknowledge the very significant role of the former Minister of State at the Department of agriculture, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. As someone who sits on and is elected from the agricultural panel and had a lot of direct dealings with the former Minister of State regarding forestry and the new forestry strategy, I have to say that he gave it his all. To be fair to him, I wish to acknowledge that. We worked well with our committee. He engaged with the agricultural c…

I welcome the Minister. It is great to see him in the House. I think he is a permanent feature of the House.