Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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On the Deputy's question on a pilot scheme in Limerick operated by the Department of Justice, the Garda and the Department of Health, with mental health services leading that, the proposal was that it would be trial. It is a diversion tactic to prevent people with mental health difficulties, especially those who have committed a low-impact crime, from entering the system.

Last year, there was a large conference where we heard from people who deliver police services in Canada, Northern Ireland and America. The proposal is that a person, not necessarily a consultant psychiatrist but someone who is qualified in respect of mental health, would travel with gardaí to specific incidents. We now have five crisis resolution teams in place. They work out-of-hours from Thursday to Sunday, starting at 3 p.m. The areas covered include Cork, Waterford, Galway, Sligo and Dublin.

The scheme will be expanded. It is important because a lot of issues arise out of hours. We are working closely with our colleagues in the Department of Justice to get this pilot up and running. There are a lot of complications attached to it and we need to have the right personnel to travel with gardaí. Gardaí would have to analyse each case in advance to make sure they are not putting somebody at risk. I can get the Deputy a note on that.