Vol. 471 No. 2
35 Mr. Browne (Wexford) asked the Minister for Health the steps, if any, he is taking to introduce a suicide prevention programme in Ireland in view of the fact that there was an approximate 10 per cent rise in recorded suicides in 1995. [20450/96]
Limerick East): The increase in the numbers of reported suicides and parasuicides in Ireland over the past two decades is an issue of growing national concern. If help is to be made available to those at risk, it is essential that reliable information should be available on the occurrence of, and factors associated with, suicidal behaviour. In order to address this issue, I established a national task force on suicide in November 1995. The ultimate aim of this task force is to formulate a national suicide prevention/reduction strategy.
The interim report of the task force which I launched in September 1996 contains a detailed analysis of statistics relating to suicide and attempted suicide in Ireland, and includes a preliminary analysis of the factors which might possibly contribute to change in the incidence of suicide. Since the publication of this report, the task force has been involved in a major consultative process which is required to formulate the national prevention/reduction strategy. The task force hopes to be in a position to complete the preparation of this strategy by the end of 1996.
