Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I do not think there will be disagreement about the Garda request for authorised officers. It is completely logical and makes sense. They will be best suited to delivering and will be utterly au fait with what is involved, which is not always the case. Some of the issues I spoke of earlier relate to the fact that not everyone is au fait with the law and with what is required. That is why I go back to the idea of a code of practice. We all heard about the CAST system or scheme - call it what you will - in Limerick. It is not to be associated with any other systems. We see this as something that works, and that is what we want to see everywhere.

The Minister of State answered a question I was going to ask about my fears in relation to authorised officers. There is a doubling up on the work they carry out as social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists. Particularly in large urban areas or where they have to deal with a wider rural area, there will be requirements. We are not anticipating dealing with a huge number of people, but there have been failings. We want legislation that works and, beyond that, resources. The logical resource would be authorised officers who have the skill set and know best practice.

We must ensure that whomever has to deal with them from other State services and the Garda is made aware of who has what role and how it will operate. Sometimes there is a problem with communications. Part of what I spoke about previously is that people could get away from the idea that they could only sign involuntary committals on the basis of someone being a threat to themselves or others at a particular moment, when there are still major mental health issues.

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