Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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903. To ask the Minister for Health if he will clarify the situation with respect to protocols used in a case (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31047/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The Deputy will appreciate that the first step that anyone should take in relation to concerns about anti-social behaviour is to contact the local Gardaí. There may be a range of reasons as to why individuals engage in such behaviour, one of which may be related to the state of a person’s mental health.

Where there are obvious concerns about a person’s mental health, people can find out more about the appropriate steps to take by looking at the information available on the HSE’s ‘Your Mental Health’ website. This information can be located at: 'http://www.yourmentalhealth.ie/Mind-Yourself-Support-Others/Concerned/Worried-about-someone-else/’.

Generally the best approach is to make contact directly with the person concerned, if that is deemed appropriate in the circumstances. Contacting and involving the person’s GP (if known) or the local HSE Community Mental Health Team are other options that may be appropriate depending on the circumstances.

If concerned people believe there is a risk from the person, then they should contact the Gardaí. If the Gardaí have reasonable grounds for believing that a person is suffering from a mental illness and that, because of the illness, there is a serious likelihood of the person causing harm to him/herself or another person, the Gardaí may assist in having the person admitted to mental health services involuntarily. This is a last resort in a crisis situation.