Dr. Catherine Conlon:

That is not a clinical judgment we could make in terms of doing the research but what we were hearing from the testimonies of the people seeking care was that the length of time for assessment was protracted and it meant that some of them opted out of the assessment process in Ireland and travelled to access care elsewhere. Also, the criterion of 28 days that was set by the legislation means that clinicians seem to be operating, not necessarily to a likelihood, which is what the legislation says, but to a high level of certainty because of the chilling effect of criminalisation. The criteria under the Act seem to be at a far higher level of certainty than for what people were seeking care.