Health Managers may wish to participate in the public consultation on draft legislation relating to deprivation of liberty.
The consultation has been announced by Minister for Health, Simon Harris, TD, and Minister of State for Disability Issues, Finian McGrath, TD.
The draft legislative provisions outline proposed safeguards for older people, persons with a disability and certain categories of people with mental health issues to ensure that they are not unlawfully deprived of their liberty in residential facilities.
This public consultation is being carried out in order to help inform the next draft of the legislation which will be submitted to Government for approval to proceed with the legislative process.
Minister Harris said “Publication of these legislative proposals for public consultation represents a very significant milestone in Ireland’s process for ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It is a positive development and shows that genuine progress on meeting the needs and rights of people with disabilities is being made”.
Announcing the public consultation, Minister McGrath said “Deprivation of liberty is a sensitive and important matter which goes to the heart of fundamental freedoms and human rights. Legislative proposals in this area will have significant implications for families, the operation of the health services and the courts. For that reason, I am today inviting submissions from stakeholders and the general public”.
The draft Heads of Bill and associated consultation paper are available online at http://health.gov.ie/consultations/ and the closing date for submissions is March 9, 2018.
