The Mental Health Commission Present to Sub-Committee on Mental Health

Today the MHC presented to the joint Sub-Committee for Pre-Legislative Scrutiny on the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill, a working group of the overall subcommittee on Mental Health.

John Farrelly our Chief Executive said, “We welcome the opportunity to engage with the committee as the amendment of the Mental Health Acts is a key strategic objective for the Commission and we wish to assist where we can to progress the matter.”

When reviewing the Heads of Bill and making its submissions to the Department of Health, the MHC’s approach to the proposed new legislation is person-centred and adopts a rights-based approach, ensuring parity of mental health issues to general health issues.

The MHC leadership team attended the meeting to answer the committee members questions.

The Inspector of Mental Health Services Dr Susan Finnerty, addressed issues relating to clinical matters and the proposed expanded regulatory function of the MHC. Our Director of Regulation, Gary Kiernan, addressed the proposed expanded regulatory function of the MHC, specifically registration and enforcement. The Director of the Decision Support Service, Aine Flynn, addressed queries on capacity and the interaction of the Mental Health Acts and the Assisted Decision-Making Capacity Act and our General Counsel for the MHC and DSS Orla Keane, who chaired the Commission’s internal Working Group on the Heads of Bill, and liaised with the Department of Health addressed matters related to mental health tribunals

Our opening statement to the Committee can be read here.