A LONG AWAITED bill to overhaul of Ireland’s mental health laws has been approved for publication after protracted delays. 

The legislation will update the Mental Health Act 2001. 

It is close to ten years since an expert group tasked with reviewing the Mental Health Act 2001 recommended 165 changes to the law.

The proposed legislation would strengthen regulation around people consenting to the type of treatment they receive.

It will also regulate all community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) which currently fall outside the scope of regulation set out under the 2001 Act.

Detention 

The bill provides for an updated involuntary admission and detention process for people with severe mental health difficulties, including a revised set of criteria for admission.

It also reforms the approach to consent to treatment for involuntarily admitted people.

Stronger safeguards for people accessing inpatient treatment also forms part of the legislation, which also includes provisions to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to consent to or refuse mental health treatment.

While the progress is welcomed by the Mental Health Commission, no timeline has been given as to when the legislation will pass.

Threat of election

A spokesperson for the Department of Health states that as the Dáil is in recess until 16 September 2024, it will not be possible to bring the Bill through all stages of the legislative process by the end of September.

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If a general election is called, which is expected to take place in autumn, the bill will fall at the dissolution of the Oireachtas.

The decision to reconstitute the bill will be taken by the next government, they confirmed, stating that if this occurs, it will re-enter the legislative process at the stage it reached prior to the dissolution of the previous Oireachtas. 

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the legislation is an opportunity to put in place more robust, person-centric mental health legislation that will further modernise, reform and protect the rights of people with mental health difficulties in the decades ahead. 

Minister of State Mary Butler said the bill has been a personal priority of for her throughout her times as minister. The minister said she is looking forward to moving the bill in the Houses of the Oireachtas in the autumn, stating she is committed to progressing the bill as quickly as possible.

Dr John Hillery of the Mental Health Commission welcomed the progress with the Bill, stating “we can now look forward to the Act being signed into law in the not-too-distant future”.