Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am concentrating on the issues with the emergency departments again. I know of a case of a family where the child, a young adult, was self-harming, suicidal and walking around naked, was showing all the symptoms and it was clearly a breakdown, and there were no supports. They were being released. The family at one stage said they could not take the person back. The option was a homeless facility, which the person would not have survived. The family took the person outside the jurisdiction and got them sectioned. In Ireland there was a pendulum swing. In the past, women could be sectioned if they looked for a divorce. Now it is almost impossible where someone is clearly in need of being sectioned for their own safety. In some cases they are self-harming but also threatening others. It is almost impossible in Ireland. Would that be one of the reforms our guests think we need to look at as a society in respect of the Mental Health Act, or is it outside the scope of the group?