Mental Health Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-23
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Ruairí Ó Murchú (SF), Louth

I understand what the Minister of State is saying in relation to the lead-in that is required for the new Mental Health Act. However, even in the short term, is it the case that we need guidelines, whether they are being given to local authorities or GPs at times? We could all have an argument about what is immediate or serious harm and whether someone is going to seriously deteriorate. I would argue on the cases I have cited that there has at times been a deterioration that is very obvious, but people are afraid. Furthermore, I get the idea that, in a perfect scenario, we assume there is capacity, but we are dealing with issues where people are making really dreadful decisions that are impacting on themselves and others and, in some cases, are very dangerous.
On some levels, families do not have the capacity to start the forms and their interaction with mental health services can sometimes be imperfect. I accept that some of that is down to them seeing themselves as being constrained by rules, laws and resources, but I have seen circumstances where there had been an attempt. One of the young men has a diagnosis of schizophrenia and is off his tablets. The mother had previously had to get protection orders. He is living there and she is very worried that the situation is deteriorating. In fairness, there was an attempt at getting a voluntary admission, but it did not work. I will not even bother reading out the response I received from the HSE. We need to find a way to deal with this.
Just in the last day, a mother was in. Her son, who is 29, has a long history of mental illness. In some instances, mental illness has brought him into prison, but he does not want support at this point in time. They cannot get a referral from a GP. Community services have put him off the books and his mother needs a solution.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-23