Amnesty International has called on the Government to conduct a planned review of the mental health services in a transparent and accountable fashion.
Calling on the Government to instill confidence in the review, Amnesty said it wants the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, to pay the same attention to mental health care as he has gave to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) threat.
The human rights group is concerned at what it has called the "ongoing neglect of mental health care" in Ireland.
Amnesty is convening a meeting of professional and voluntary organisations, comprising some 40 representatives, to call on the Minister for Health to initiate consultation with stakeholders.
Amnesty says little is yet known about what form the planned 2003 review will take.
The organisation is awaiting a meeting with Mr Martin and has said it will present him with stakeholders' views that it wants him to take account of.
Amnesty wants the Minister to repeat the attention paid to the threat posed by the SARS virus to the "longstanding crisis" in the mental health area.