Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
1693. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health when he plans to publish the reform of the Mental Health Act 2001; if it will provide both for mental health patients' right to have control over their own treatment and the regulation of community mental health services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34196/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn 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. The changes are progressive in nature and first and foremost seek to move away from the often paternalistic interpretation of the existing legislation to one where, insofar as is possible, the individual has the final say in what he/she deems to be in his/her best interests.
Amendments to the Mental Health Act 2001 based on the recommendations of the Expert Group Review of the Act are currently being progressed. Government approved plans to proceed with the general scheme of a bill and officials are working on the heads of the amending bill which will legislate for the recommendations of the Review, including those relating to mental health patients right to control over their own treatment and the regulation of community mental health services.
Work is ongoing on this comprehensive updating of our mental health legislation and the draft heads are expected to be significantly progressed by end of Q3 2018, at which point consultation with the Mental Health Commission will take place. It is essential that the Mental Health Commission, which has a very significant and important role in overseeing the safeguards provided in the Act, have full input into the framing of the many amendments to be included in revised mental health legislation.
Since the Expert Review was published two mental health amendment acts have been enacted. The first was the Mental Health (Amendment) Act 2015 which updated the provisions of the 2001 Act relating to ECT. The second was the recent enactment of the Mental Health (Amendment) Act 2018 which makes changes to the 2001 Act regarding the definition of voluntary patient and which introduces guiding principles for adults instead of the principle of best interests. The Act also introduces guiding principles for children and refers to capacity within the meaning of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015.
In addition, changes to the 2001 Act will be introduced as part of the new Deprivation of Liberty provisions currently being developed by my Department and also through changes proposed for the Child Care Act 1991. Finally, there are four other Private Member's Bills published which seek to make changes to the 2001 Act.
