Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 May 2020
577. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Health the date on which the children’s part of the review of the operation of the Mental Health Act 2001 will be released; the reason it has been delayed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4502/20]
View answerAn Expert Group Review of the Mental Health Act 2001 was published in 2015. There are 165 recommendations contained in the review and most of these relate to amendments to the Mental Health Act. Of these 165 recommendations, 13 relate explicitly to children. The Review includes provisions which are intended to strengthen the protections for people who are detained without consent in approved centres. The broad thrust of the changes recommended by the Expert Group has been accepted and Government approval was given for the drafting of a General Scheme of a Bill to amend the existing legislation to reflect the recommendations of the Expert Group.
Progress on the comprehensive updating of the 2001 Act has been delayed in part because of the need to progress a number of Private Members Bills over the past four years, as well a requirement for emergency legislation to cure a finding of unconstitutionality of section 15(3) of the 2001 Act.
The Department of Health finalised a draft of heads of a bill, based on the recommendations of the Expert Group Review, in July 2019. This, along with a section specifically relating to children, was then sent to the Mental Health Commission for its consideration. It is essential that the Mental Health Commission, which has a very significant and important role in overseeing the safeguards provided in the Act, has full input into the framing of the many amendments to be included in revised mental health legislation, including the amendments related to children. The Department expects to receive detailed observations from the Commission on the section of the bill related to children in the coming months, on top of the recently-received observations on the other sections of the bill. In addition, a preliminary meeting between Department of Health officials, Department of Children and Youth Affairs officials and the Mental Health Commission took place in February 2020 on the draft heads of bill related to children.
It is planned that all elements of the new legislation, including the section relating to children, will be introduced at the same time when finalised.
