The Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill, published yesterday, has received a broad welcome from Opposition politicians, and is likely to be supported in its passage through the Oireachtas.
Mr John Deasy, Fine Gael spokesman on justice, said the party would support the general thrust of the Bill. "It is a badly-needed reform," he said.
He said he would have concerns that the members of the proposed Mental Health Review Board would be carefully vetted and chosen. "It will have enormous responsibility."
However, he welcomed the fact that decisions on the release of people detained under this legislation as insane, or unfit to be tried, should be taken out of the political arena.
Mr Joe Costello, Labour's spokesman on justice, also welcomed the Bill. "It's long overdue," he said. "The provisions as outlined are more flexible and more comprehensive than in the existing legislation. We are supportive of the general principles."
However, he expressed concern about the "designated centres". "What are they?" he asked. "Does it mean that a person who comes before the law and is deemed not fit to be tried could be subject to a centre that is a psychiatric hospital?
"The new Mental Health Act has been passed but not implemented. So we are still not providing appropriate services for citizens who are mentally ill. We need to reform the existing institutions."
Mr Ciaran Cuffe, the Green Party spokesman on justice, and Mr Aengus Ó Snodaigh, the Sinn Féin spokesman on justice, both said they had not yet had a chance to read the Bill.