Specialist Garda negotiators have been called to at least 89 barricades and similar stand-offs this year.
About half were directly related to mental health issues.
The National Negotiation Unit has a panel of trained gardai across the country.
They try to begin a dialogue with the people involved in the stand off and bring it to a safe conclusion.
Last year they were called 98 times and, in the first 11 months of 2020, they were needed 89 times.
This year 41 were directly linked to mental health issues, often involving people threatening to take their own lives.
Another 41 are described as 'criminal'.
However, Justice Minister Helen McEntee says many of these would have had an underlying mental health issue that would have acted as a contributory factor.
Patricia Casey, a consultant psychiatrist in the Mater Hospital in Dublin, says the Garda negotiators try to bring stand-offs to safe conclusions.
She explained: "Firstly, the attempt is made to diffuse the situation and to persuade the individual to come to hospital to be seen... or if they're barricading themselves, that the person would come out... and agree to go to seek help.
"Of course, if they don't do that, the guards may have to get through the barricade and break in."
Some other incidents this year involve kidnap or hostage attempts, a possible child abduction, and an incident involving a high-risk missing person.
