Letters to the Editor: Government must explain delays in reforming mental health laws
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Ireland’s mental health laws go right back to 2001. Ten years ago, an expert panel recommended 165 changes to bring them up to date.
Eight years ago the government started that process but many delays later, what was meant to be the most seismic overhaul of mental health legislation in Ireland has now been pushed out once again.
In 2021 the heads of the legislation outlined what would be in the act. The bill then went for pre-legislative scrutiny in May 2022.
Paschal Donohoe, the public expenditure minister, said at the start of this year that this would be embedded into the Summer Legislative Programme and here we are two weeks from the Dáil breaking and still no movement on it.
One would be hopeful that the above will be enacted this year, although I will believe it when I see it, This has been delayed so many times that I would have no problem in classifying this imbroglio under the rubric of it being a national scandal.
CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB
There are a couple of key parts to this act which really are very important and would sway someone, in whether they would want to access mental health services in Ireland or not. Part of it is to do with the question around consent relevant to the type of treatment that people can get.
There are two types of hospital admission, into mental care units in this country: This falls under voluntary admission and involuntary admission.
Involuntary admission makes up about 10% of mental health admissions in Ireland. It’s basically where a doctor orders one to be admitted into a mental health unit. Those people are more protected than the 90% who are voluntarily admitted.
This could be people who walk in to a mental heath unit and say “I need help”, or it could be someone who is incapacitated and basically there is a phrase that is used: ‘de facto detention’ which means that these patients really don’t have a say in their treatment or they don’t have a say as to whether they should keep receiving treatment or not.
This could deter people from receiving treatment who really need it. It’s also very disempowering to people who are in treatment.
I find it utterly appalling that once again this can is being kicked down the road and what I find most exasperating is that there are no real signs as to when it will be picked up again.
It’s my contention that we have a breach of human rights here and this to my mind is simply not good enough.
I would like the Government to tell us why these important reforms are being continually kicked down the road.
Surgical artificial insemination (AI) has recently been banned in Ireland on dogs because it is unethical, invasive, and causes unnecessary suffering. All dogs bar one; the one exception to this ban is the gentle greyhound and this is now the subject of a public consultation, which will end on July 28.
Surgical AI is a highly invasive procedure which involves a general anaesthetic, an abdominal incision not unlike a C-section, and removal of the uterus. The uterus is injected with semen, after which it is reinserted and the animal is stitched up again.
Following this high risk procedure the unfortunate animal is likely to be pregnant with between eight and 10 pups, putting a huge strain on the recent wound. She will give birth two months later. Greyhounds can be ‘leased’ for this procedure many times during their lives essentially making the greyhound a ‘uterus for hire’. It is truly the stuff of horror movies except it is real.
Greyhounds have four legs, a tail, and they can bark. They are dogs. There should be no exceptions to this ban. Be their voice and urge the Government to ban this practice for greyhounds too.
I am appalled at the proposal to increase bin charges. Just to be clear: Bin companies did a worse job of recycling plastic waste than the Deposit Return Scheme now does.
However, bin companies now lose money since the job they did less efficiently was still the biggest earner for them. Now the ordinary person needs to pay more to get a worse service from the bin companies. Oh what a great little country to do business in.
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has recently received many plaudits for his commitment to advancing the Green agenda over the last 20 years.
However, his record in charge of the energy portfolio has been dismal, leaving Ireland’s vital energy security on a precarious knife-edge.
Recent decisions by Mr Ryan have negatively impacted both Ireland’s economy and international reputation, particularly regarding foreign direct investment (FDI) and energy security as follows:
1. The decision to stop issuing oil and gas exploration licences off our coasts was irresponsible and irrational, knowing that 100% of our oil and 80% of natural gas continues to be imported. It also contradicted a formal policy decision by the government in 2019 that development of native natural gas was the preferred support fuel for renewables for future decades;
2. Failure to correct deficiencies in Ireland’s electricity grid is seriously affecting FDI according to the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, as many of the large users and data centres are now forced to look elsewhere for stable growth opportunities and connectivity;
3. Failure to address the problems with the planning system is curtailing the advancement of renewables, leading to Equinor and Shell among others vacating the market in frustration;
4. Mr Ryan intervened in the planning system when an independent application for an LNG proposal in Shannon was before An Bord Pleanála. Despite Ireland’s extreme vulnerability due to lack of gas storage, the application was subsequently rejected;
5. The inexplicable prolonged delay in refusing to extend exploration licences at Iniskea near Corrib was inexcusable, as was the refusal to hold a national conversation on zero carbon small modular nuclear technology;
6. The decision to refuse further exploration at the independently proven Barryroe oil and gas field, defies economic and particularly environmental sense. The Barryroe field would have afforded Ireland an independent native energy supply for decades to come, significantly with a much-reduced carbon footprint.
Clearly, Ireland’s crucial energy system should be vested in a professional and independent statutory body, similar to that of Norway, away from the short-term meddling of politicians.