Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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508. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 606 of 6 October 2020, if she will supply a copy of headquarters directive 75/2014; if this directive is used for all reports of potential suicide for An Garda Síochána; and if there are alternative protocols in place. [30951/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank the Deputy for again raising this important issue.

The Deputy may be aware that Section 12 of the Mental Health Act, 2001 provides members of An Garda Síochána with powers to intervene in situations where they believe an individual presents a serious likelihood of causing immediate and serious harm to themselves or to others as a result of a mental health disorder. This includes powers to bring the individual concerned into custody and to enter a property if they have reasonable ground for believing that such a situation exists.

As stated in my response to Parliamentary Question No. 606 of 6 October 2020, I am informed by the Garda authorities that HQ Directive 75/2014, the Hostage/Barricade/Suicide Incident Command Policy, sets out An Garda Síochána’s policy on the use of force and Garda negotiation/response/tactics in both planned and incidents that require a spontaneous response by members of An Garda Síochána to manage hostage, barricade, and suicide incidents.

I am further informed that this is the only directive that is used by members of An Garda Síochána for reports of potential suicide incidents and that it is a confidential document for use only by Garda Personnel.