Mental Treatment Act, 1961

Amendment of section 165 of Principal Act.

9.—(1) The following sentence is hereby added to subsection (1) of section 165 of the Principal Act: “The member of the Garda Síochána shall, for the purposes of this section, have a right of entry into any house or other premises provided that he has reasonable grounds for believing that the person believed to be of unsound mind is for the time being therein”.

(2) In subsection (2) of section 165 of the Principal Act “a registered medical practitioner (not being a registered medical practitioner disqualified in relation to the person)” is hereby substituted for “the authorised medical officer” and “a” is hereby substituted for “the” where the latter word occurs before “district mental hospital”.

(3) In subsection (3) of section 165 of the Principal Act “a registered medical practitioner for a recommendation for reception, such practitioner may (or, if he is the authorised medical officer, shall)” is hereby substituted for “the authorised medical officer for a recommendation for reception, such officer shall”.

(4) The following subsection is hereby added to section 165 of the Principal Act:

“(5) A registered medical practitioner shall, for the purposes of this section, be disqualified in relation to a person—

(a) if such practitioner is interested in the payments (if any) to be made on account of the taking care of the person,

(b) if such practitioner is the husband or wife, father, step-father or father-in-law, mother, step-mother or mother-in-law, son, step-son or son-in-law, daughter, step-daughter or daughter-in-law, brother, step-brother or brother-in-law, sister, step-sister or sister-in-law, or guardian or trustee of the person, or

(c) if such practitioner is a medical officer of a district mental hospital.”