Dr. Donal O'Hanlon:

The logistics of introducing an authorised officer as the only means of starting an involuntary application really have to be thought through on a service level. Staffing one of those positions 24-7 will probably take about five whole-time equivalents. Those five whole-time equivalents will come from the existing pool of mental health professionals, and we have real difficulty recruiting at the moment. Moreover, given the nature of the work, it will take two or three hours to conduct an assessment, so they may get through two or three assessments per shift, and then travel time must be included. In some urban areas, perhaps it is possible to get to a Garda station or a person's house within a half an hour, but that is not going to be true in Cork, Kerry or even Kildare, where I work, given it takes two hours to get from one end of the county to the other. My main fear relates not to the principle of authorised officers but to the practicality. I think it will suck all the trained staff out of the system, and they will be doing this rather than providing care, if they can be recruited.