Mental Health Commission present to Justice Committee

We participated in a meeting of the Joint Committee on Justice on Wednesday, November 24th on the topic of ‘Minorities engaging with the justice system’. The MHC was represented at the meeting by our Chief Executive, John Farrelly and our General Counsel, Orla Keane.

In our presentation, the MHC focused on the interaction of people with mental illness and An Garda Síochána. People with mental illness represent a growing minority in Ireland and although there have been significant improvements in the attitude towards and treatment of people with mental illness in the justice system, there still remains significant barriers.

In 2009, the MHC and An Garda Síochána issued the ‘Report of the Joint Working Group on Mental Health Services and the Police’. That report made a number of recommendations including the creation of a 24/7 statutory social work service, expanded training for Gardaí and the implementation of adequate court diversion programmes to deal with minor criminal matters involving individuals with mental health problems.

 

Twelve years later, none of these recommendations have come to fruition. At most, we can say that there has been some limited expansion of training for Gardaí but not to the level required.

One issue which we focused on in our submission to the committee was the increased volume of applications made under the 2001 Act by members of An Garda Síochána and, more specifically, the increased use of section 12 of the 2001 Act. Section 12 of the 2001 Act gives a member of An Garda Síochána the power to take a person into custody if they believe that a person is suffering from a mental disorder and that because of the mental disorder there is a serious likelihood of the person causing immediate and serious harm to himself or herself or to other persons.

Although section 12 was enacted with the expectation that it would be used in exceptional circumstances, there has been a worrying increase in the volume of section 12 applications made. The most recent figures show a 5% increase in the amount of section 12 applications made in 2021 as compared to 2020.

The MHC said that it is glad to note that the General Scheme to amend the 2001 Act includes amendments to sections 9 and 12 with the result being that only authorised officers may make applications under these provisions. However, this does not remove the impetus to make further improvements. As it stands, An Garda Síochána still remains the only agency immediately available day or night to respond to crises in the community and the limited training and support available to them creates a situation where the most vulnerable in our society are being failed.

The MHC met with members of An Garda Síochána in July and are awaiting further information from them on a number of matters further to that meeting. The MHC has offered its service and assistance in relation to the expansion of Garda training in mental health matters and it is our hope that through increased training and the implementation of an adequate diversion system we can improve the experience of people with mental illness who interact with the justice system.

Apart from the MHC, the Joint Committee also heard from representatives from the Irish Traveller Movement, LGBT Ireland and AkiDwA.

Our opening statement to the committee can be read here. You can watch the proceedings here.