Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is something that I want to put on the record regarding the Mental Health Commission, which launched its 2021 annual report recently. It stated criteria for involuntary detention is quite wide-ranging, as it stands, in the Mental Health Act. People can go in voluntarily and unexpectedly be made to stay involuntarily. The Mental Health Commission 2021 report states: "If a voluntary patient indicates a wish to leave an approved centre they can be detained if the staff are of the opinion that the patient is suffering from a mental disorder".

In 2021, there was only a 64% compliance rate among mental health inpatient services with the requirement for individualised care plans. Some 36% - over one third – of inpatient mental health services are not complying with the requirement to provide individualised care based on the person’s preferences. It shows, therefore, that legally binding advance healthcare directives, AHDs, are vital to ensure that the will and preferences are respected for all people in those contexts.