Garda-mental health intervention teams' future uncertain amid further discussions
In April 2023, then justice minister Simon Harris said the project would start by the end of 2023, by which stage it was retitled the Community Access Support Team. Picture Colin Keegan/ Collins
Long-awaited joint Garda-mental health crisis intervention teams — first promised to be operational over two years ago — appear to face further uncertainty, with fresh discussions taking place between agencies and departments.
The establishment of a pilot Community Access Support Team has been dogged by delays since it was recommended by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland in September 2018.
The policing commission said crisis intervention teams should be set up in each Garda division.
In July 2021, the Government said a crisis intervention team would be piloted in Limerick city as early as April 2022. In January 2022, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the pilot would start in the third or fourth quarter of that year.
In September 2022, a Government mental health and prison taskforce said these teams should be set up within 12-18 months, and that the pilot in Limerick should get “full support”.
In April 2023, then justice minister Simon Harris said the project would start by the end of 2023, by which stage it was retitled the Community Access Support Team.
Ms McEntee told the Dáil recently that the support team was a “diversionary” initiative, to divert people away from the criminal justice system, and was “not a mental health de-escalation unit”.
She said: “Contact is ongoing between officials from my department and the Department of Health, An Garda Síochána, and the HSE on the delivery of this initiative.”
HSE Mid West told the they were developing a “crisis resolution team” under a national clinical programme for their establishment in Ireland, which would include a community café as a contact point.
In a statement, it said the crisis resolution team would be a “community-based multidisciplinary team” providing rapid assessment and intensive support to people in a mental health crisis.
It said it would provide an alternative to admission into an in-patient unit and would involve “interagency liaison with local partners”.
It added: “HSE Mid West is engaging with the crisis resolution team National Clinical programme to explore if the intention of the Community Access Support Team could be aligned with the establishment of this programme.
The CEO of Mental Health Reform, Fiona Coyle, said they welcomed the development of the crisis resolution team in Limerick, saying it aims to provide “intensive and timely” intervention and reduce hospital admissions.
However, she added: “While the crisis resolution service is welcome, the Community Access Support Team in Limerick is a separate initiative that must be prioritised.
“The delays to the Community Access Support Team in Limerick are disappointing.
"The lack of progress will delay crucial improvements in the criminal justice system.”
Ms Coyle said too many people with mental health difficulties were being “needlessly detained” in prison.
“Our national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, recommends diversion schemes to divert people from imprisonment to the care of mental health services," she said.
"The Government must invest in the national rollout of the Community Access Support Team in police stations and courts.”
In a brief statement, Garda HQ said: "An Garda Síochána remains fully committed to the Community Access Support Team, once established."
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