The Title of the Bill, Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2008, was changed from the Mental Health (Involuntary Procedures) (Amendment) Bill 2008. This is a Seanad Bill that has been amended by the Dáil. In accordance with Standing Order 118, it is deemed to have passed its First, Second and Third Stages in the Seanad and is placed on the Order Paper for Report Stage. On the question, "That the Bill be received for final consideration," the Minister may explain the purpose of the amendments made by the Dáil. This is looked upon as the report of the Dáil amendments to the Seanad. For the convenience of Senators, I have arranged for the printing and circulation of the amendments. There is one group of amendments and the Minister will deal with their subject matter. A Senator may contribute only once on a group of amendments. I remind Senators that the only matters that may be discussed are the amendments made by the Dáil.
Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2008 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages
I call on the Minister of State of the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to speak about the subject matter of the amendments in group 1. She is very welcome.
I appreciate very much this opportunity to contribute. Before I comment briefly on the individual amendments that have been made to the Bill in the Dáil, I take the opportunity to thank Senators for their timely consideration of this short but important Bill. I thank Senator David Norris and former Senators Déirdre de Búrca and Dan Boyle, all of whom originally sponsored the legislation when it was introduced in 2008 as a Private Members’ Bill. I acknowledge the role played by mental health campaigners in general and the late John McCarthy, in particular, who, as everyone will know, was instrumental in raising awareness and developing the concept of Mad Pride Ireland. I acknowledge his tireless work in seeking an end to the practise of administering electroconvulsive therapy, ECT, to patients with capacity who refused such treatment. It is sad that he was not here to see what he had campaigned for over such a long period.
The revised Bill which I am returning to the Seanad today still delivers on the original intention of the legislation which was passed in this House in 2011 and achieves the purpose of ensuring that when a person with capacity refuses ECT, this decision will be respected. The amendments that were made in the Dáil last week tidy up an error in the original Bill, as agreed in the Seanad, and introduce some minor technical changes. I have introduced an amendment to section 60 of the Mental Health Act 2001 to ensure that when a patient with capacity refuses medicine after a three-month period, this decision will also be respected. The essence of the Bill, therefore, is in deleting the word “unwilling” from both sections 59 and 60 of the Mental Health Act 2001.
If the Bill is passed in the House today, I plan to sign a commencement order in January 2016, with a likely effective date of 1 February 2016. This will give the Mental Health Commission sufficient time to make the changes necessary to allow this new law to come into operation. I ask the Cathaoirleach to have motions moved in regard to the four sections of the revised Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2008 which was passed in the Dáil last week and received all-party support.
This Bill affects a very small group. Nevertheless, with the passage this morning of the capacity legislation which will have a profound effect on the lives of everyone, be they young, middle-aged or old, and the scheme of the new mental health legislation that is being worked on, we now have a body of legislation that will bring us into the 21st century and also serve us well beyond it. However, our opinions and methods of operation will all change. I am very glad this small but significant Bill is passing with all-party support. I thank everyone for his or her contribution.
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to deal with this Bill which she claims is small but highly significant. I really welcome it. This is an important and progressive day for our legislation on mental health treatment and involuntary treatment. We have had many debates on this issue. In the lifetime of the previous Seanad, I recall debating the issue of ECT administration and just how impassioned that debate was. I am really glad that we have finally made this amendment. I compliment the Minister of State and her officials on all the work they have done on it. This is also a progressive day because we passed the capacity legislation. I thank the Minister of State.
This is a great day. It is also my wedding anniversary. It is great to see all this legislation going through the House. It is shocking, however, that this matter has featured since 2008. It is a great credit to the Minister of State that she acknowledged the three Senators who sponsored the original Bill. It proves the system works, although one may no longer be a Member when the legislation eventually gets over the line. It is great to see legislation that not only brings us into the 21st century but also brings us forward. Well done.
I am sure the House will join me in wishing Senator Martin Conway a happy anniversary. He is married to a very good Leitrim woman.
I congratulate the Minister of State. I saw the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest". I did not believe I would ever see the person who abolished the pain inflicted on patients against their will. As Senator Martin Conway said, this is a great day. I congratulate all concerned on achieving this goal.
I thank the Minister of State for bringing forward the Bill and all the legislation that has been passed in the past three weeks. Of all Ministers, she has been here more often than any other. I thank her for the time she has devoted to all the Bills that have passed through this House in the past three to four weeks, in particular, and also in the past four years. Much of the legislation was very difficult and technical. The Minister of State dealt with it and explained fully every point raised.
I thank her for bringing forward this legislation and also for her work on all of the other legislative measures that have gone through the House in the past few weeks.
I wish all Members a very happy Christmas. It is a well deserved break not just from the political point of view but also for officials in the Departments and the Houses who are often anonymous and invisible but without whom we could not function. I wish them a very happy Christmas also and hope they will have a well deserved rest.