Ms Paula Hilman:

The Deputy asked about the partners in Limerick and I will let Mr. Derek Smart talk about that. To give some additional data, we very much welcome that the Bill proposes removing us from the role of applicant for involuntary admission. Our worry, however, is that if authorised officers are not available 24-7, which is 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by default, we will be brought back into the system. We heard the figure of 2,000 involuntary admissions earlier. If you look at our data for the past two years, however, under section 12 of the Mental Health Act, we dealt with 6,927 cases in 2023. In 2024, it was more than 7,000 and in quarter 1 of this year, to date, it was 1,937, which would equate to just under 8,000 cases. That is what we are dealing with. Our concern is that if we did not have the authorised officers available, we would still be brought into that space.