Amendment No. 52 is being introduced for the avoidance of doubt to state plainly that young people over the age of 16 shall be presumed to have the capacity to make decisions about their care and treatment, unless shown otherwise. Where a young person has capacity, the views of their parents are to be recorded but cannot supersede the views of the young person.

These amendments correct cross-references following amendments to the Bill on Committee and Report Stages in the Seanad.

These amendments are minor wording changes adding "responsible" in front of "consultant psychiatrist" in some instances. These amendments are to ensure consistency in language across the Bill.

These are technical amendments to replace the word "record" with "records" where it occurs throughout the Bill.

This grouping relates generally to children aged 16 or 17 who have been assessed as lacking capacity under the Bill. This is not a new policy but instead places the provision in a more appropriate section. It provides that where a capacity assessment is being carried out on a child, it is done as soon as practicable, regularly to meet the individual child’s needs, but not less than once every 14 days. This an important safeguard to ensure that the capacity of young people aged 16 and 17 is assessed frequently.

The two amendments in this grouping do not represent a significant change in policy from the Bill, as passed by the Dáil, but have been included to clarify what should happen for voluntarily admitted children who are in the care of Tusla. Amendment No. 203 provides for children who are in the care system to be admitted for inpatient mental health treatment on a voluntary basis, with the consent of Tusla, where it is in the best interests of the child. This admission is done by way of application to the Family Distr…

These amendments both relate to legal representatives assigned for the provision of legal aid. Amendment No. 438 removes subsection 196 (7) which is not required now as the definition in section 2 requires the legal representative to be a practising barrister or solicitor. Amendment No. 439 sets out that the legal representative assigned must provide information to the commission, where requested, to ensure that the work carried out is "of a sufficiently high standard". This will ensure that the commission can moni…

These amendments all relate to the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 and were introduced following extensive consultation between my Department and the Department of justice as well as consultation between both Departments and the Attorney General’s Office. The Department of justice is the Department with policy responsibility for this Act, so it was important that it supported all amendments. That Department carried out consultation with its own stakeholders, including the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Cr…

I would be confident that nobody will lose a pathway. All of the patients at the time will be patients of an approved centre. The Mental Health Commission will play a role here and the HSE will play a significant role here. Their role will be to ensure that every single person under the new Act has his or her rights vindicated. We will keep a close eye on it.

I thank Deputies for the debate today on this landmark legislation to update and modernise our mental health laws. The enactment of this Bill has been a long-standing priority for me and for the Government, and I am very proud to see it being passed here today. The Bill will now go to Uachtarán na hÉireann for her consideration. This is once-in-a-generation legislation. The previous Mental Health Act was enacted in 2001 by our current Taoiseach. The previous legislation was enacted in 1945. The Bill that we are pas…

We all share the same goal, namely to ensure this legislation will facilitate the putting in place of a more robust framework in which our mental health services will be delivered and regulated into the future. I thank my colleagues in government for their continued support. I particularly thank the Taoiseach for reappointing me to this role in order that I could complete the work on the Bill right to the end. I thank the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, for all her support and former Minister Stephen Donnelly, w…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle very much.

Hear, hear.

I move: Tuesday's business shall be: - Motion re Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately) - Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of meeting of the Joint Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy in Wexford (without debate) - Motion re Consideration of Estimates by Committees (without debate) - Statements on the Consultation process of Our Rural Future Policy (not to exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes) Tuesday's private members' business shal…

As the Ceann Comhairle knows, during the Business Committee meeting last Thursday, there were very few issues with the Order of Business. There was a request for additional time. It was facilitated. All issues raised here today can be discussed. I think only Deputy Collins raised the issue of short-term lets last Thursday. In relation to mental health, I will be in the Dáil tomorrow for another four hours. That will bring to 38 hours the amount of time given to discuss the Mental Health Bill over the past few weeks…

I move: That Dáil Éireann, in accordance with Article 15.1.3° of the Constitution, hereby determines that the Joint Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy may meet in Wexford Town, County Wexford, on a date in 2026 to be decided by the Committee, in order to hear from community groups, locals and stakeholders on the progress made at Lady's Island Lake; provided that, pursuant to Standing Order 115(4), Members may participate in such meeting from within the parliamentary precincts by means of the videoconferen…

I move: That, notwithstanding the Orders of the Dáil of 3rd day of March, 2026, and 25th day of March, 2026, and pursuant to Standing Order 223(1), the following Committee may complete its consideration of the Estimates for Public Services for the year ending 31st December, 2026, standing referred to them pursuant to Standing Order 222(2), later than the eightieth day and not later than the one hundred and sixty-fifth day, being the 31st day of May, 2026, after the Estimates had been so referred: — the Select Commi…

I thank the Deputy for raising this really important issue. As she knows, most children and young people receive the care they need from CAMHS and are discharged. However, some young people may need to transition to adult services. I accept and acknowledge that transitions between services can be difficult, and that is why I established a specialist group in the Department of Health policy oversight structures to examine the process. The recommendations of the group were informed by feedback from over 200 young peo…

I thank Deputies for attending this evening and for their continued support of the Bill. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, brought forward a small number of amendments on Committee Stage in the Seanad to strengthen a number of important provisions, the details of which I can set out briefly. Seanad amendments Nos. 1 and 2 relate to the power of the HSE under the Bill to request health information for important public interest purposes beyond treatment and care.

Our health system needs a robust and proven identifier in order that health information can, effectively and reliably, be associated with the right individual. This is essential for care and treatment as well as patient safety. As part of this, the Bill aims to enhance patient safety through stronger identification processes, including best-practice use of the personal public service number and eircode to uniquely identify patients.