The College of Psychiatry of Ireland has defended the use of electroconvulsive therapy on patients, saying it is medically safe and effective.
Over 400 patients undergo ECT each year in Ireland, of which 50 are treated without their consent.
The college says that ECT is a safe and effective treatment for severe depression and other conditions, if given in a modern unit.
It says it can also be a life-saving treatment.
Mental health campaigner John McCarthy is lobbying for the law to be changed so that ECT can only be given with a patient's consent.
He was due to have a course of ECT but after the intervention of his wife, it did not proceed.
The College of Psychiatry is seeking a change in the law so that ECT can be administered to a patient, admitted voluntarily to hospital, but whose mental state has deteriorated and can not give consent.
Currently, ECT can be given to a voluntary patient, or to a patient admitted to hospital against their will, who is unable or unwilling to agree to the treatment.
The provision of ECT around the country is regulated by the Mental Health Commission.
