The Government has established an expert group to prepare a new policy on mental health.
The role of medication and complementary therapies and measures to reduce the stigma attached to mental health problems are among the subjects the group has been asked to examine.
The Minister of State for Health and Children with responsibility for mental health, Mr Tim O'Malley, said it was "widely acknowledged" that a new policy was needed.
Stating that the group had been asked to prepare a new policy framework, he said the existing framework dated from the Planning for the Future document of 1984.
Proposals to modify that policy were contained in a Government Green Paper on mental health in 1992 and in a white paper in 1995.
The expert group will be chaired by the president of the National College of Ireland, Professor Joyce O'Connor.
Campaigners for those with mental illness have criticised aspects of the 2001 Mental Health Act, which provides for the independent and automatic review of each decision to detain a patient in a psychiatric centre.
In particular, the Independent Senator Mary Henry criticised the absence of provisions to improve the treatment of mentally ill people who are brought before the courts and those in custody.
Mr O'Malley said the group had been asked to consult widely and it was expected to produce a report in 18 months.
He said the examination would take account of recent legislative reform and developments in the care and treatment of mental illness.
In addition, the group would seek the views of those who use and work in the services.
Mr O'Malley said: "The ongoing implementation of the vision set out in Planning for the Future has resulted in a sustained decline over the past two decades in the number of in-patients in our psychiatric hospitals, with a corresponding increase in a range of care facilities based in the community."
Those appointed to the expert group include: Dr Dermot Walsh, inspector of mental hospitals; Dr John Owens, chairman of the Mental Health Commission; Ms Bairbre Nic Aongusa, principal in the mental health division of the Department of Health and Children; Dr Justin Brophy, consultant psychiatrist at the Wicklow Mental Health Service; Dr Colette Halpin, consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist; Dr Mary Kelly, consultant psychiatrist at the Brothers of Charity, Limerick; the director of Schizophrenia Ireland, Mr John Saunders; the director of the Irish Advocacy Network, Mr Paddy McGowan; the assistant to the inspector of mental hospitals and director of nursing at Wicklow Mental Health Service, Mr Michael Hughes; Limerick GP and psychotherapist, Dr Terry Lynch; Mr Edward Boyne, a psychotherapist based in Dublin and Galway; the occupational therapy manager in north Cork, Ms Mary Groeger; the programme manager for mental health and older people in the Western Health Board, Mr Noel Brett; Ms Cathy Eastwood, a social worker at University College Hospital, Galway; the acting director of nursing at Carlow Mental Health Service, Mr Brendan Byrne; the mental health nursing adviser in the Department of Health and Children, Mr Cormac Walsh; and the principal psychologist at St James's Hospital in Dublin, Dr Tony Bates.
