Mental Health Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-23
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Mary Butler (FF), Waterford

I am sorry, but Deputy Ó Murchú must listen to the answer because we cannot just change a whole piece of legislation that has been there since 2001 for individual cases. We have to be very clear that there are huge criteria relating to how people are involuntarily detained, especially when they do not have capacity. We did not mention that today. We also did not mention the fact that, in a lot of these cases, there is a dual diagnosis of a mental disorder and drug addiction.
It has to be understood that it is not down to the garda, the family or the GP alone. In many instances, it is the family and GP working together. They make a referral to mental health services because they believe the person meets the criteria to be legally detained under the Act, and there is a legal framework to back it up. A consultant psychiatrist will then determine whether the person reaches the capacity or not. The capacity must be the likelihood of that person being an immediate and serious risk of harm to self or others or because of their condition the person is likely to seriously deteriorate in the community and his or her detention is likely to be of material benefit to the person. The department of psychiatry is not a place to put a person because they are homeless. We must be very clear on that. It is about all elements of the State coming together.
The Deputy might send me a couple of the cases he mentioned to see if I can be of any help to him. I know he is genuinely worried about them, but I have to work within the Act I currently have.

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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