Vol. 534 No. 1
36 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Health and Children the strategic plan in place to implement in full the recommendations of the national task force on suicide; the target dates for the completion of the implementation of these recommendations; if he will outline the forum for co-ordination between his ministerial colleagues who have a direct role in the implementation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9887/01]
Considerable progress has been made to date in the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the task force on suicide. Many of the task force's recommendations require continuous development, particularly in the area of training and in the development of services relating to suicide and suicide prevention.
The establishment of a national suicide review group by the chief executive officers of the health boards is central to the strategy to prevent and reduce suicide and attempted suicide and was a core recommendation of the task force report. This group was established in 1998. Membership of the group includes experts in the areas of mental health, public health and research. The main responsibilities of the group are to review ongoing trends in suicide and parasuicide, to co-ordinate research into suicide and to make appropriate recommendations to the chief executive officers of health boards. Last year, the group published its first annual report which provides a comprehensive overview of activities in suicide prevention.
Health boards have established working groups to examine the implementation of the recommendations of the task force on suicide. The working groups are multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary and engage in the promotion of positive mental health and the de-stigmatisation of suicide, provide information in relation to suicide and para-suicide, liaise with the media and provide training requirements for staff in relation to all aspects of suicide and para-suicide. Resource officers with responsibility for implementing recommendations of the task force have been appointed in all of the health boards. Their responsibilities include the recruitment of additional staff, the provision of staff training in risk assessment, production of information literature and events aimed at raising public awareness of suicide and para-suicide.
The task force also recommended that steps be taken to make the mental health services more accessible to the public, particularly to young people. Concern was also expressed at the risk of suicide in older people. A total of £830,000 has been provided by my Department in 2001 towards suicide prevention and towards research aimed at improving understanding of this issue. Additional funding has been made available to further develop consultant led child and adolescent psychiatry and old age psychiatry services to assist in the early identification of suicidal behaviour and provide the necessary support and treatment to individuals at risk. This year an additional £100,000 has been allocated to the National Suicide Research Foundation in Cork to support its work in the development of a national para-suicide register.
Contact is maintained by my Department with the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Education and Science and the Environment and Local Government with a view to implementing the task force recommendations. All the statutory agencies identified in the report with jurisdiction in suicide prevention strategies have also been approached by my Department requesting that the necessary measures be put in place to ensure implementation of the recommendations which relate to their respective areas.
Data on mortality is routinely published in the annual and quarterly reports on vital statistics compiled by the Central Statistics Office. Recording of the incidence of suicide by the CSO is dependent on information set out on form 104 completed by the Garda Síochána in respect of each inquest and forwarded to the CSO. The task force proposed that a new form 104 which addresses the deficiency of the lack of detailed medical or psychiatric information relating to the deceased be completed by the Garda and a new form 104 is now in use.
I thank the Minister for his reply. Does he agree with my commending the participants in last night's "Prime Time"? They were very brave in telling their stories and gave us a better understanding of and insight into how people suffer the bereavement of suicide and what families go through. Does the Minister agree that the increase in suicide levels from approximately 60 per annum in the 1960s to an average of 450 per annum in recent years represents a serious crisis for society? Does he also agree that urgent action must be taken to introduce suicide prevention and reduction programmes, particularly among young people? Will he outline the research done by his Department into why this problem has arisen? I agree with him that it is important to examine the aims and recommendations of the task force and to have statistics on suicide but we now need a strategic, detailed plan to introduce suicide prevention and reduction programmes such as those we have seen in other countries.
I agree largely with Deputy Neville. There is no question that suicide is the principal cause of death in young people, particularly those in their early 20s. It exceeds cancer and road accidents as a cause of death among young males in particular and is a matter of great concern.
Suicide prevention programmes are inextricably linked to mental health generally and to our attitudes to mental health. In all settings, schools, the workplace and so on, a better approach to positive mental health is essential. The concepts of counselling, psychotherapy and talking to people as well as providing facilities for people to talk to counsellors are essential if we are to lower suicide rates.
I agree with the Deputy's comments about the participants in last night's programme. I did not see it but I have videotaped it and will watch it. The Irish Times also carried an excellent series of articles in recent weeks on suicide which was very informative and illuminating. It was particularly good regarding people who attempted suicide and were saved. They invariably mentioned the need to talk to someone and the fact that they could not do so at the crucial time. It was also notable that people's recovery was largely due to having people to talk to. Groups such as Grow, Aware and the Mental Health Association of Ireland are becoming increasingly important in providing a context in which people can develop better mental health.
