Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 November 2021
481. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Health if there are future plans to amend existing mental health legislation to remove the power of An Garda Síochána to detain a person who is in immediate jeopardy of causing harm to themselves or to others; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56107/21]
View answerThe General Scheme of a Bill to amend the Mental Health Act was approved by Government on 13 July and is available on the Department of Health's website at gov.ie - Draft Heads of a bill to amend the Mental Health Act 2001 (www.gov.ie).
The publication of the General Scheme follows a review of the Mental Health Act which took account of the 165 recommendations of an Expert Group Review of the Act that were published in 2015, along with extensive consultation with the HSE, the Mental Health Commission and other key stakeholders, and a public consultation in March/April 2021.
Proposed amendments to Section 9 of the General Scheme provide for changes to who may make an application for involuntary admission and would allow only ‘Authorised Officers’ to make an application. The proposed changes were recommended by the Expert Group and included in the current Programme for Government.
Proposed amendments to Section 12 in the General Scheme provide for updated powers for An Garda Síochána to take persons into custody who they believe fulfil the criteria for detention set out in Section 8 of the Act. The Garda or Gardaí must contact an Authorised Officer who will assess the person to see whether an application for a recommendation to a medical practitioner should be made.
The intention of these changes is to strengthen the safeguards on involuntary detention, to uphold the rights of the individual to autonomy and to make decisions of their own, and to ensure an holistic view of the individual is taken before an application for involuntary detention is made.
Pre-Legislative Scrutiny by the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Mental Health began on 2nd November. The draft heads have been sent to Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) for the drafting of the Bill. Department of Health officials will continue to work with the sub-Committee and the OPC to ready the Bill for introduction to the Oireachtas as soon as possible.
Applications for involuntary detention are never made lightly and applications made by any member of An Garda Síochána take full account of An Garda Síochána‘s obligation to protect the human rights and welfare of individuals and communities. The only statutory option available to Gardaí responding to people in a mental health crisis and potentially posing a risk of harm to themselves or others is to invoke Section 12 of the Mental Health Act, 2001.
The Department of Justice has confirmed that all trainee Gardaí are trained over two days in an internationally recognised Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) workshop which is delivered in collaboration with the HSE. This workshop is a suicide first aid programme which equips trainee Gardaí with the necessary skills to discuss suicide with a person at risk and to make an intervention to reduce immediate risk of suicide if necessary. Trainee Gardaí also study the Mental Health Act 2001 and the procedures that are required if they have to invoke their powers.
As part of the Continuous Professional Development core programme for operational members, An Garda Síochána has provided training on awareness of mental health difficulties in keeping with the Mental Health Act 2001. The programme also covers types of mental health difficulties, Garda powers and procedures, and the transportation of people in mental health crisis.
As the Deputy may also be aware, the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland concluded that societal issues such as the mental health of individuals should not be the responsibility of An Garda Síochána alone and the Commission recommended the establishment of multi-agency teams that would include Gardaí to respond to the needs of individuals with mental health issues. A pilot crisis intervention team is being developed in the Limerick Garda Division. This pilot is being progressed in close collaboration with the HSE and it is hoped to begin the rollout of the pilot team early next year.
