Mary Butler
Waterford · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“Major improvements are happening across services: enhanced access to proactive and preventive healthcare to support a better quality of life; the embedding and upscaling of women's health initiatives put in place through the implementation of the previous women's health action plans, including, as the Senator knows, free contraception, sp…”
“In relation to any proposal, a proposal for a new location requires a detailed business case, a premises, support from the regional HSE management, and the necessary funding to resource the staffing of the service. That is where I come into it and what I will be trying to do.”
“We are currently working closely with it to support the expansion of Jigsaw services to Waterford and the south east, as well as to County Clare. The location of Waterford was picked because we have no services in the south east at all. It is great that we will have the hub and spoke model the Senator spoke about.”
“That is where I do not agree with the Senator. I believe €180 million of funding ring-fenced for women's health, when we have come from a low base, is absolutely unbelievable.”
“The plan will build on our knowledge of women's health through research and innovation and will spotlight important areas such as endometriosis and cardiovascular health. Recently, the Minister announced €2 million in funding for women's health research.”
“This plan will continue to focus on how we can improve access to specialist endometriosis care and treatment. As the Senator knows, we have established two super-regional specialist centres, one in Tallaght University Hospital and another in Cork, alongside the development of five regional endometriosis hubs.”
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“notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders: (a) the time allotted for Government Business shall be extended in accordance with the arrangements for that business and the Dáil may sit later than 9.30 p.m.; (b) the Statements on the Report of Operation Kenova, shall be taken at the time when the SOS pursuant to Standing Order 25(1) would normally be taken, and on the conclusion of the Statements, the sitting shall stand suspended either for one hour or until 4.30 p.m., whichever is the later; and (c) the weekly division time shall be taken on the conclusion of proceedings on the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026; 2.”
“the resumed proceedings on the Second Stage of the International Protection Bill 2026 shall be interrupted, and stand adjourned on conclusion of the second speaking round and the following arrangements shall apply: (a) the second-round speeches shall be in accordance with the table below (to be read across); and (b) members may share time; and Gov SF Lab Gov SF Mins 20 20 20 12 4 SD Gov SF IPTG Gov Mins 20 12 4 20 12 SF ITG Gov SF OM Mins 4 20 12 4 20 Total 204 mins 3. notwithstanding anything in Standing Order 177(2), the proceedings on Second Stage of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences (Amendment) Bill 2026 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 2 hours. In relation to Wednesday's business, it is proposed that: 1.”
“notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders: (a) the time allocated to Government business shall be extended in accordance with the arrangements for that business and the Dáil may sit later than 10.48 p.m.; and (b) private members’ business shall be taken following the proceedings on Second Stage of the International Protection Bill 2026, with consequential effect on the commencement times for the items following in the ordinary routine of business; 2.”
“Thursday's business shall be: -International Protection Bill 2026 (Second Stage, resumed) (to conclude after the third speaking round, with any division claimed to be taken immediately prior to Committee Stage on Wednesday, 18th February, 2026) Thursday evening business shall be the Second Stage of the Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021, sponsored by Deputy Sinéad Gibney. Proposed Arrangements for this week’s business: In relation to Tuesday’s business, it is proposed that: 1.”
“I move: Tuesday's business shall be: - International Protection Bill 2026 (Second Stage, resumed) (to adjourn on conclusion of the second speaking round, not to exceed 3 hours and 24 minutes) Tuesday's private members' business shall be the Second Stage of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences (Amendment) Bill 2026, selected by Sinn Féin. Wednesday's business shall be:- - Statements on the Report of Operation Kenova (not to exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes) - Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024 (Amendments from the Seanad) (to conclude within 1 hour) - Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 (Committee and remaining Stages) (to conclude within 5 hours) Wednesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Flood Prevention, selected by Independent Technical Group.”
“I move: That, notwithstanding anything in the Order of the Dáil of 5th February, 2025, setting out the rota in which Questions to members of the Government are to be asked, Questions for oral answer, following those set down to the Minister for Defence, shall be set down to Ministers in the following temporary sequence: Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment whereupon the sequence established by the Order of 5th February, 2025, shall continue with Questions to the Minister for Social Protection.”
“I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I have noted the requests for a debate on flooding and on housing. There will be five hours of housing debate on Second Stage of the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 this week: 204 minutes today and a further 102 minutes tomorrow. It is a two-day sitting. This legislation is really important. We will facilitate discussion on Thursday around further debates. At the moment I am not in position to accept an amendment under Standing Order 35(3). The Order of Business stands, a Cheann Comhairle.”
“the resumed proceedings on the Second Stage of the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 1 hour and 52 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply: (a) the second speaking round shall be in accordance with those contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down); (b) on the conclusion of the second speaking round, or where speeches conclude before the 1 hour and 42 minutes have elapsed and no other member is offering, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes, whereupon proceedings shall be brought to a conclusion; (c) any division claimed on the Second Stage proceedings shall be taken immediately prior to Committee Stage on Wednesday, 11th February, 2026; and (d) members may share time.”
“the Statements on Road Safety shall not exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply: (a) the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the sequence contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down); (b) following the statements, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and (c) members may share time; and Gov SF Lab Gov SF Mins 25 15 10 10 3 SD Gov SF IPTG Gov Mins 10 10 3 9 10 SF ITG Gov SF OM Mins 3 9 10 3 5 3.”
“notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders: (a) no motion for a Committee report pursuant to Standing Order 111 or private member's Bill pursuant to Standing Order 169 shall be taken; (b) private members' business pursuant to Standing Order 168(1) shall be taken for 2 hours on the conclusion of proceedings of the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026; and (c) topical issues shall be taken on the conclusion of private members' business, and the Dáil shall adjourn on the conclusion of topical issues; 2.”
“the proceedings on the Motion re Ninth Report of the Standing Committee of Selection shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately; and 4. the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 shall be interrupted and stand adjourned after 3 hours and 24 minutes, or where no further member is offering, and the following arrangements shall apply: (a) the first speaking round shall be in accordance with those contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down); (b) members may share time. Gov SF Lab Gov SF Mins 20 20 20 12 4 SD Gov SF IPTG Gov Mins 20 12 4 20 12 SF ITG Gov SF OM Mins 4 20 12 4 20 In relation to Thursday's business, it is proposed that: 1.”
“notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders: (a) the time allocated to Government business shall be extended in accordance with the arrangements for that business; (b) private members’ business shall be taken following the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026; (c) Parliamentary Questions to a Minister other than the Taoiseach pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) shall not be taken; and (d) topical issues shall be taken on the conclusion of private members’ business 2. the proceedings on the Motion re Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately; 3.”
“Thursday's business shall be: - Statements on Road Safety (to conclude within 2 hours and 25 minutes) - Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 (Second Stage, resumed) (to conclude within 1 hour and 52 minutes, with any division claimed to be taken immediately prior to Committee Stage on Wednesday, 11th February 2026) Thursday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Cost of Living Crisis, selected by Independent and Parties Technical Group. Proposed Arrangements for this week’s business: In relation to Wednesday's business, it is proposed that: 1.”
“I move: Wednesday's business shall be: - Motion re Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately) - Motion re Ninth Report of the Standing Committee of Selection (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately) - Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 (Second Stage) (to adjourn after 3 hours and 24 minutes) Wednesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Bord Bia, selected by Sinn Féin.”
“If I could, on a personal note, with the indulgence of the Leas-Chathaoirleach, I wish the new Clerk of the Seanad, Martin Hughes, all the best in his new role. When I chaired the Oireachtas committee for Business, Enterprise and Innovation in 2016, Martin was the clerk to me. We had a lovely working relationship. The Seanad is lucky to have Martin.”
“I thank James and Lorraine, who are sitting behind me. They are not finished yet, so I was not going to thank them at this stage. I want to say one thing, and he will kill me. James Kelly has been working on this Bill for six years. He has given six years to this Bill from start to finish. That is some dedication. I have worked with James and Lorraine for five years on the Bill. I thank them for that. I acknowledge Andrea and representatives of the College of Psychiatry and Mental Health Reform who have been here. They have sat through almost every hour. That is appreciated and it is not easy. I also thank the Office of Parliamentary Counsel. I met with its staff yesterday regarding the Bill and the next four weeks and the stages in relation to that. I thank the Bills Office and all the work it does.”
“They have been here several times. I also thank the Cathaoirligh who have been here, especially the Leas-Chathaoirleach, Senator Byrne, who really drove on the Bill. I thank her for all the work she has done. That is all I want to say today. It is a pleasure to be here in the Seanad. Much more discussion went on in the Seanad than in the Dáil. I did ten hours in the Dáil and close to 19 hours here with everyone. Any opportunity I get to discuss mental health is a good day's work. I will be back on 18 March, the day after St. Patrick's Day, for Report Stage. Hopefully, we will have the Bill enacted before Easter.”
“I might speak briefly on this amendment, as it is the last opportunity I have to thank everyone who has sat here for close to 19 hours, maybe 19 and a half hours, over six sessions. This landmark legislation will update and modernise our mental health laws. The enactment of this Bill has been a long-standing priority for me and for Government, and I look forward to bringing the Bill to Report Stage shortly. In particular, I thank Senator Costello for attending each and every session and speaking to many of the amendments. I also thank Senator Black, who has left now, and Senator Boyhan. He put me through my paces on more than one day but it was great to have the debate. I also thank Senators Ryan, Harmon and Cosgrove, who is not here today, as well as all the various Senators and my two colleagues here from Fine Gael.”
“I was glad to get the clarification. I was thinking about it yesterday evening. We got that clarification this morning and I wanted to put it on the record because it is important. I thank Senator Ryan for raising it.”
“This includes transfers to the emergency department, for example if someone was having a heart attack or other emergency medical issue. That is extreme, but it is what I mean. It might also include the transfer of people to a health facility or clinic other than a hospital for treatment such as a day service or for a co-morbidity such as addiction or intellectual disability. Another example is if an adult was on dialysis. That is what is covered. The transfer legally must always be for the purpose of treatment. There is no other reason a person may be transferred to another hospital or place. Furthermore, the person legally must be immediately transferred back to the approved centre when the treatment finishes. This provision has not been and cannot be used to transfer people out of the country. It is simply not possible to do that.”
“The wording of this amendment tracks with the wording in section 37 of the Bill, which relates to adults. It also tracks with the existing wording of section 22 of the Mental Health Act 2001. There have never been unintended consequences relating to section 22 in the 20 years of operation of the 2001 Act. This morning, my officials consulted Dr. Amir Niazi, chief clinical lead for mental health for young people in the HSE, about the wording. Dr. Niazi confirmed that this section is only ever used sparingly to transfer a person who has a medical need that cannot be met in the approved centre, for example if they had a medical challenge at the same time, such as a broken leg. That person would have to be transferred.”
“This is just to allow for a substitute decision-maker to be provided by the court. This amendment will mean that only one court appearance and application is required, reducing the cost and administrative burden and speeding up how quickly applications are heard by the court. Previously, where someone turned up for court, they might not have someone there for support and would have to come back another day. This is to try to tidy up different things. As this is the final grouping, I flag that I will move a number of amendments on Report Stage, as discussed. We spoke about the term "other place" yesterday. Senator Ryan may remember. Amendment No. 267 inserts a new section to provide for the transfer of a child who has been admitted involuntarily to a hospital or other place.”
“Amendments Nos. 374 to 383, inclusive, have been grouped. These amendments are placed in Parts 8 and 9 of the Bill and relate exclusively to references to the Mental Health Act in other enactments. As the Mental Health Act 2001 will be repealed in due course with the full commencement of this enactment, it was necessary to ensure that all references to the Mental Health Act are updated. One of the key amendments in this grouping is amendment No. 374. This amendment allows a registered proprietor of a registered acute mental health centre to make a direct application to the Circuit Court for the purposes of applying for a substitute decision-maker of an involuntarily admitted person lacking capacity. We spoke about this yesterday. Where a person did not have a family member or decision-maker, no one at all was available to them.”
“I understand the thrust of what the Senator was trying to achieve. We spent a lot of time yesterday and today speaking about patient advocacy services and national advocacy services and they will happen. I am at one with the Senator in wanting to make sure people in mental health facilities have access to advocacy services and can make a complaint if they wish to do so. That will follow when this part of the Bill has been enacted and I have already started the work on it.”
“I will be very brief. These amendments are all technical or smaller in nature, while others fix typographical errors that need to be fixed. They arise because we have amended the Bill substantially with so many amendments. I will give an example. Amendments Nos. 353 and 360 correct the reference to “section” in both instances with “Act”, and amendment No. 370 replaces the plural “sections” with the singular “section”. The amendments are all typographical.”
“I am just buzzing that 300 men who might not have reached out for support previously have done so now because it is free of charge. I ask Members to spread the word about yourmentalhealth.ie/men .”
“He can make the call and have up to six counselling calls. If after that he still needs supports, he will be facilitated. Of all those who made calls, seven needed support to go face to face with CIPC, and that has happened. The other organisation to which I wish to give a shout-out is MyMind, with which we also partnered. It is a great organisation and I am very fond of it. It provides counselling support in 20 different languages. Many people who come here on permits to work on farms might not be competent in Irish and English and may need supports. In all my life, I have never stretched any €2 million as much as the €2 million in question. I also work with the Irish Farmers Association on the supports. I tailor them as much as possible and there is recurring funding.”
“I partnered with Exchange House, which looks after the Traveller community in the Dublin area and has an outreach service, on its 24–7 line, which provides counselling. I partnered with veterans through the Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel, ONE, based in Dublin. It does phenomenal work. It also has a line set up to support people. The majority are men, but I said to the group that if any female rings the helpline, the staff should not say the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, said only men may be listened to. The Connect Counselling piece is going down really well. From 5 o’clock in the evening until 9 o’clock at night, any man anywhere in Ireland, whether in his bedroom or sitting at the kitchen table eating his dinner, can pick up the phone and self-refer. He does not have to be referred by a GP.”
“Let me take this opportunity to refer again to supports. The supports were launched on 1 September. The website yourmentalhealth.ie is our website for all mental health supports and services across the board, and yourmentalhealth.ie/men is for men’s services. Fifty per cent of the 300 who followed up came through their GPs. I thank the Irish College of General Practitioners. The GPs meet online every month. In September, 1,200 of them met online. My team explained the new counselling supports to them. It explained to them that one can be referred or self-refer for supports. We were told that about 45% of people actually proceeded on the basis of the advertisement we ran on free counselling. There are a few different ways to obtain the free counselling. One of these is through a GP.”
“Seven cases it had to escalate up to counselling in primary care, CIPC. Those seven people were seen immediately because I was able to specifically fund it. I find it hard to listen to comments like that. Sometimes, not everybody is aware of where the services are and how to access them. If the Senator has any specific cases, I ask her to please send them on to me and I will try to help her with them.”
“I simply cannot listen about funding cuts because there is no truth in it. There are no funding cuts. Sometimes, people will not avail of supports. Unfortunately, we have that situation in relation to men, who will not always reach out for supports. I got a very good briefing this morning - I was up early - in relation to the new free counselling supports that I introduced last September for men. It was the first time ever that any man in the country could access free counselling supports. From 1 September 2025 to 27 January, 300 men reached out for free counselling supports for the first time. That is 300 men in four months. I am really delighted about that. I secured that as recurring funding - €1 million in recurring funding - to provide free counselling supports. This is Connect Counselling. Connect Counselling dealt with 68 cases.”
“A total of €107 million will be spent out of the mental health budget this year for non-governmental organisations, NGOs, that provide services all over the country. Jigsaw will receive €15.8 million of the budget this year. Pieta will receive €4 million of the budget. It is simply not true to say that the funding does not filter down. If the Senator looks at the funding going into Cork, I guarantee her the funding is filtering down. There were no cuts. The first day I stood in this job, the budget for mental health was €995 million. The budget this year is €1.6 billion. I have increased the budget year on year by 60%. The other thing I have done is to know every single whole-time equivalent post that I have secured this year. I will make sure that every one of them is hired and goes in and provided the services.”
“I went down there to visit that team to see what the hell was going on. That is the type of work I do every day of the week. I wear my heart on my sleeve in relation to mental health. Whatever job I do, whether it is Chief Whip, Minister of State with responsibility for mental health or a TD from Waterford, I work hard. I know what services are available all over the country. The Senator has social prescribing in her area, which is really important and does a huge amount of work. I cannot be responsible for an organisation that is not accredited. If an organisation is not accredited, there is something wrong. The governance is not right. The clinical governance is not right. The organisation is not right. There is a reason that somebody is not funded.”
“That is inaccurate. At 9.30 a.m., for example, I looked at how many suicide crisis assessment nurses, SCANs, we had in the country. I secured another 12 for this year and we have 22 in place. There are four SCANs in Cork. They are suicide reduction nurses who work with GPs. It is the only area in the country that has four SCANs. Dublin does not even have four SCANs. I visited the Mallow primary care centre and the CAMHS team there. There are 17 and half whole-time equivalents in the CAMHS team in Mallow. It has the most whole-time equivalents in any CAMHS team in the country. The thing about it is, I get out on the ground. I am good at figures and remembering things. That particular team I visited does not have the biggest catchment area in the country. They have the most staff in the country, but their waiting list is one of the longest.”
“The fact NIMC is there, sitting above me the whole time, keeps me focused. I cannot remove the care plans to have HSE performance oversight. It is probably a play on words. I would not say that it was meant. It is just a wording issue. I thank the Senator for the constructive way she has dealt with these amendments.”
“Recruitment can be difficult because, at times, we are all, whether public, private or voluntary, dipping into the same pot in looking for advanced nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, educational psychologists, counselling psychologists, social workers, etc. It sometimes happens that when a person from one particular area is recruited, there is a space there and we are looking at back-filling, which can cause problems. I deal with these kinds of issues every day of the week but I hardly ever get the opportunity to speak about it. That meeting took place at 9.30 this morning to see how recruitment of those whole-time equivalent staff in mental health services, for whom I break my back every year to secure additional funding, is progressing.”
“Another factor to note is that we now have in the HSE what we never had previously. In fairness to the former chief executive, Mr. Paul Reid, one of the last things I managed to squeeze out of him before he left was the establishment of a dedicated youth mental health office within the HSE specifically dealing with patients aged under 18. I had a performance meeting at 9.30 this morning, which I do every single month, to see where we are on recruitment of the staff I secured for mental health services under last year's budget. There were 200 whole-time equivalent staff last year and we are already looking at reaching the 300 whole-time equivalent staff I secured under budget 2026. I monitor that on a monthly basis, as does my team in the Department, to see where we are on recruiting staff.”
“Putting it in place is why we have made so much progress on mental health over the past five years, notwithstanding all the challenges we face, the pent-up demand after the Covid period and the fact our population has increased by 750,000 in the past eight years. We have to factor all of that into maintaining services. As I have outlined, the work of NIMC means I am not in a position to support amendment No. 337. I cannot support amendment No. 348. I am not sure whether Senator Ryan realises that this Sinn Féin amendment would delete the section on care plans and replace it with a section relating to HSE performance oversight. Care plans are very important to me. The HSE already collects a wealth of data on performance and there are monthly performance review meetings between my Department and the executive.”
“They also showed me the work they are doing in relation to social prescribing. For the first time ever, we have a CAMHS team in Limerick doing social farming. The new programme will be setting up in March and I look forward to going down to see it. Arising from the NIMC structures, we have short-, medium- and long-term goals. I am constantly presented with reports on where we are going and setting out the progress on those goals. Sharing the Vision is one of the only policies I have encountered where there is anything like NIMC. It holds the Government, the Cabinet, the Minister and me to account. We did not have that oversight previously.”
“Mark Smyth, a clinical psychologist, led on that and did a huge amount of work. We have also set up a committee on the Traveller community, which is having its very first meeting today. I am really pleased about that. I get asked very few questions about NIMC because it works so well. Anybody can log onto the website and see the work it does. It presents a report every quarter. I meet regularly with the chairperson and will meet with her again soon. What she has done, which is great, is bring the NIMC meetings to the regions. The most recent one I attended was down in Limerick. People delivering mental health services in the community there came in, made presentations and showed me the type of work they are doing. This includes the integrated care programme for older people, ICPOP, partnering with psychiatry in later life.”
“I do not mean to be condescending but there are a lot of new Senators who may not realise that committee is in place. Establishing it, which I achieved by Christmas 2020, was one of the first things I did in my role as Minister of State. I understand Sharing the Vision is one of the only Government policies that has a national implementation and monitoring committee. I work closely with the committee, which is now in its second iteration, chaired by Ms Catherine Brogan. It has a steering group, an HSE implementation group, a reference group and associated specialist groups. One of those specialist groups, for example, did a review of bed capacity. We also did a review of the transition between CAMHS and general adult mental services, which the Senator mentioned yesterday. Dr.”
“I thank the Senator for her amendments. I did not support amendment No. 337 when it was proposed in the Dáil and I am not minded to support it today. When I came into my role as Minister of State with responsibility for mental health services in July 2020, the first document I was handed was Sharing the Vision, which became my bible. It is a mental health policy that puts the service user first and centre. It is cross-departmental, which is really important because mental health does not only sit within the Department of Health but crosses different Departments. I was really pleased that, for the first time ever, there was a recognition in Sharing the Vision of dual diagnosis. However, the game-changer for me was the national implementation and monitoring committee, NIMC.”
“I keep a close eye on every one of those reports. They are there for the public to see. Every time somebody comes into my office to speak about their loved one who may have to take the next step and go into a nursing home, I always ask if they have read the HIQA report. They often put their mum's or dad's name down for three nursing homes in their area hoping to get in. I always suggest they go off and read the HIQA report. That is my line every time. Reading the HIQA report is not scaremongering. It provides an inside view of what an unannounced inspection found on a day, which is really important. All this work goes on every day of the week. Officials from the Mental Health Commission today could be in a non-compliant facility working with it to make sure it becomes compliant.”
“That is why I was not able to legislate for having all unannounced inspections because as soon as there is a breach there are follow-up meetings, of which there could be two, three, four or maybe five meetings. There is follow-through the whole time to make sure that they are substantially compliant or compliant in relation to issues that have been there. Sometimes it can relate to buildings or fire safety measures. It might relate to older buildings that might be listed buildings. We have a plan in place to replace many of the approved centres because they may not be compliant in their buildings. Most non-compliance cases relate to buildings or fire escapes. I am not worried about a bit of a scuff on a skirting board. However, if it relates to care plans, nutrition or the care being provided to these people, that is when I get worried.”
“The Mental Health Commission had to respond to issues in Bloomfield before Christmas. It was the first time ever at the Mental Health Commission had to go into an approved centre in relation to mental health. Unfortunately, I had to deal with it about 20 times as Minister of State with responsibility for older people in relation nursing homes where HIQA had to go in. For anybody who might have a loved one in any of these facilities I would hate the impression to be given that if there is a breach such that a facility is not compliant or not substantially compliant, we wait for the mental health report once a year. That is completely inaccurate and false.”
“At the very end of that he will see very clearly that they have to submit a plan to make sure that everything is order and if it is not in order they may not be registered. With the new Bill, the Mental Health Commission will be given substantially enhanced powers to deal with issues of non-compliance by services on top of what it already has. The Mental Health Commission must take all reasonable steps to protect the rights and interests of persons detained in registered acute mental health centres. I am not here to defend the Mental Health Commission or HIQA for that matter because there is a crossover, but they are the regulators. They are both independent of the Senator, independent of me and independent of the Government. They have a difficult job to do and I believe they do it very well.”
“They are all very welcome. I am concerned that the Senator's last contribution might give the wrong impression to people over breaches that have been found by HIQA or the Mental Health Commission. I have been Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and older people since 2020. Unfortunately, my Wednesday nights when we are waiting to vote are normally spent reading HIQA and Mental Health Commission reports. I read them every week. They are flagged to me all the time. When non-compliance is identified, the services must submit an implementation corrective and preventive activation plan. The Senator can go home this evening and log on to any one of those seven facilities found in breach.”
“We hope the President will sign the Bill over the Easter period. That is our plan and timeline at the moment. They will move immediately then. For all the secondary legislation we are looking at a period of between 12 and 18 months. Other issues can run in parallel to that. Some of them will be statutory instruments that I will simply sign and that will not have to come before the Houses. They will be laid before the Houses but they will not have to be discussed in the Houses. As the Senators are aware, I am open to coming in to discuss anything at any time, even if it is only statements to provide an update. I will come in and do that. My point is there is no reason why other things cannot happen in parallel. The patient advocacy services part is the one I want to get done first.”
“They are already seeing about 10% of those with mental health issues through the disability sector as well. I am very anxious to progress this. As I said, I have form here. I have done it across the nursing home sector, and I will certainly do it across this sector. I want to get it done as soon as I possibly can, however. It is really important.”
“She actually gave me an indication of the types of complaints that are being made. Complaints can be made in relation to the type of food a person is getting. A lot of complaints, believe it or not, are about how someone's own clothes might go to the laundry, and they might not get their own clothes back. There might be a mix of somebody else's. She went through the types of complaints. Sometimes, people might not have a good working relationship with the clinical lead on the team, for example. There are some complaints in relation to that. In the main, however, they are complaints we can work with and resolve. That is why I was happy to get a context of the types of complaints they get at the moment. They are in the disability sector and the nursing home sector.”