Dr. Seán Ó Domhnaill:

I will combine some of the questions. Regarding the cases recorded of Irish women who travelled to the UK, Deputy Kelleher gave a figure of 130,000 and wondered if some of those cases could have included women with suicidal intent. We obtained a freedom of information disclosure from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in England and Wales last August and from 1992 until 2011, which are the most recent figures, two women gave reasons along mental health grounds. No one gave the reason of suicidality. One of the grounds was mental illness - that was the phrase used - and the other one was depressive disorder. In my experience, as in the experience of all the psychiatrists who have given evidence here this week, abortion has never been indicated and is not reported in any journal or textbook as being a treatment for either mental illness or depressive disorder. I hope that answers that particular question.

I have combined the questions on the treatment of acute suicidal intent. On the last question regarding the procedures that would be followed, as I mentioned, some of the procedures would be considered draconian. The problem with the presentation of someone who is acutely suicidal is that she is presenting as someone who is acutely stressed, usually in the context of having recently discovered that she is pregnant or later in her pregnancy having discovered that, say, a relationship has broken down and she no longer has the support she had previously. The key thing to do in that situation, and it is the same for anybody who is assessed or considered to be at risk of suicidality, is to carry out a thorough assessment of her psychiatric history and her mental state at that time. If it is a case that two psychiatrists are needed to provide a specific opinion, the process does not change. Dr. Sheehan referred to that when he stated: "... in our practice, we see people who are profoundly depressed... clearly the intervention [in that case] is to admit [them] to hospital... support and help them... not to make a decision that is permanent and irrevocable." Dr. Sheehan said that the intervention in that case is to admit him or her to hospital, but I should point out that the process of admitting someone to hospital involves their either agreeing or disagreeing to be admitted to hospital. The only legislation we have is the Mental Health Act of 2001 and if someone is deemed to be at immediate risk of suicide, acutely suicidal, he or she must to be admitted to a place of safety. We are restricted by law. We cannot just say that we accept the person is suicidal but she should go home, come back and we will get a second opinion. She has to be admitted and in this situation most people will not want to be admitted to hospital. In that situation one is obliged, ethically and legally, to detain the person in under the Mental Health Act. That is draconian, and that is what this Government is purporting to do.