The national task force on suicide put forward in its report, which was published in 1998, a national suicide prevention-reduction strategy and identified the various authorities with jurisdiction in suicide prevention strategies and their respective responsibilities.
Implementation of the national suicide prevention-reduction strategy commenced shortly after publication of the task force report with a partnership approach adopted between statutory and non-statutory services. My Department is also monitoring progress on the implementation of the task force recommendations by the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Education and Science and Environment and Local Government in so far as recommendations relate to these Departments.
Central to the strategy has been the establishment of a suicide research group by the health boards to conduct research and advise health boards on measures to prevent and reduce suicide and attempted suicide. The group was established last year and has met on several occasions. Health boards are also appointing resource officers to liaise with voluntary groups working in the area of suicide prevention and have established multi-disciplinary working groups to examine the implementation of the recommendations of the report.
