Mental Health Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-20
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Frances Black (IND), Industrial and Commercial Panel

Numerous studies have shown that the vast majority of individuals with mental health conditions are not violent and are far more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators. This is an important point to make. Overstating the risk people pose contributes to harmful stereotypes and public fear, which often in turn fuel stigmatisation and discrimination.
That is a concern. There is little empirical evidence that involuntary detention based on a perceived risk to others improves outcomes or reduces harm. In contrast, voluntary community-based supports and early intervention have been shown to be more effective and rights respecting. As previously highlighted, the impact of involuntary detention and treatment on individuals is profoundly serious and must always be considered a measure of last resort. Such interventions should never be based on unproven concerns about perceived dangerousness but on clear evidence of actual behaviour. Again, I go back to the Sub-Committee on Mental Health which noted the importance of reducing the use of stigmatising language and narratives when discussing people's mental health difficulties, experiences and treatments. In its submission to that subcommittee, IHREC noted that justifications of risk to others are subjective and that there is a lack of research to support their application, which can often result in grave violations of human rights such as the denial of legal capacity or the deprivation of liberty. This needs to be viewed through the lens of a person-centred approach, ensuring that human rights are upheld and that any elements of subjectivity in relation to the justification for the use of coercion are removed.
I also want to note the submission of Professor Dainius Pūras to the subcommittee. Professor Pūras, a former special rapporteur for health in the UN and a practising psychiatrist, stated that the use of dangerousness as a justification is not based on sound research and that the discipline of psychiatry must not act as a tool for social control. The trauma caused by the experience of coercive practices can be significant and long lasting. I will illustrate this point by sharing lived experience testimony that was presented to the Sub-Committee on Mental Health by a person who was detained under this system in 2008 after an adverse reaction to the drug citalopram. The person found that they did not have many rights or protections under the Mental Health Act 2001 and still felt traumatised by the whole experience over 12 and a half years later. The experience caused complex post-traumatic stress. The person felt that we could do much better at helping people in distress to get back on their feet and pointed out that despite portrayals in the media, most people have not harmed anyone.
The focus should always be on the individual's own health, safety and rights and not on unproven concerns about others. That is the concern I have with the legislation. I also want to note that other groups who may statistically pose a risk to others, for example, those who have alcohol problems, are not subject to involuntary detention on the basis of the perceived risk they pose. Detaining individuals with mental health difficulties solely on perceived risk represents a double standard. That is my concern. This practice constitutes a serious infringement of personal liberty. It is important to flag all of this and to put it all on the record today. Psychiatrists have also raised significant concerns about this criterion and have noted that they are not trained to reliably assess future risk to others. Risk assessments are often speculative, inconsistent and prone to error. Relying on them as a legal basis for detention places an unfair burden on clinicians and may lead to over-cautious or defensive decision-making.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-01-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-20