Mr. Michael Ryan:

I thank the Deputy for the question. We need to reduce the use of restraint as much as possible, but it happens on occasion. I have spoken to people who have used our services who were happy that on occasion restraint was used but, as I said, we need to be moving towards reducing its use. The HSE is working with approved centres on an initiative looking at methods of reducing restraint. This ties in with the question of care planning and the recovery approach. For example, are we communicating with our service users as much as possible? Are we de-escalating the situation and using advance directives and, if this has happened before in the debrief, has the person said what would have helped and what, if it happened again, he or she would like to be done? There is a commitment to reduce restraint. Nobody wants this to be happening, but on occasion it is necessary.