Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Last week a Garda station in Donegal was forced to hold a man with severe mental health issues for 12 hours as there were no GPs available to assess him and sign the necessary forms to allow him to be admitted to hospital. This was not only unfair to the man being held but also to the gardaí who were unable to do anything else while this man was in their care. They were forced to ring 12 different GPs but none was available. Garda resources are very limited in rural communities so gardaí are not in a position to be tied up for a whole day trying to find a GP. It is completely unacceptable. I do not understand why there is not a system in place to ensure GPs are contracted to the Garda to ensure this service is provided when it is necessary. Will the Tánaiste ensure that instances such as this cannot happen again? Will he ensure that GPs are contracted so they turn up and no person in need of a GP to sign a form will be held for 12 hours in any Garda station?

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