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The full implementation of the Irish Mental Health Act 2001 brings about the introduction of an altered legal definition of mental disorder, mandatory review of involuntary detention within a 21-day period and new statutory rules regarding the use of seclusion and mechanical means of bodily restraint. This legislation came into full effect on November 1, 2006. The implications of this for the intellectual disability psychiatry sector are profound and the full ramifications of these changes will only become fully apparent over time.This also occurs at a time when we are facing unprecedented developments in government mental health policy, major changes to postgraduate training in psychiatry, difficulty recruiting appropriately skilled staff and increasing legal requirements on employers to ensure staff safety. Several of these drivers for change may appear at face value to be in conflict and a complex balance will be required if these changes are to be blended to ultimately improve the care provided to clients of our services.

A pure-cone retina has been reported in the larval stages of teleosts from three families, viz. the salmonOncorhynchusspp. by Ali (1959), the herringClupea harengusby Blaxter & Jones (1967) and plaicePleuronectes platessaby Blaxter (1968 a). There is also an absence of any retinomotor responses (movement of retinal masking pigment and changes in the relative positions of the visual cells) until the rods develop, which is usually at metamorphosis where this is clear-cut. Most adult teleosts are known to have a duplex retina.