Vol. 575 No. 3
241 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Health and Children the supports available to the families of suicidal teenagers or children in the various health board areas; and his proposals for additional resources, including financial, to address this problem. [28217/03]
245 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Health and Children the support mechanisms available to the parents of teenagers and children who are suicidal; and if he will make a statement on the additional resources he proposes to invest to tackle this growing problem. [28221/03]
246 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Health and Children the supports available to young depressed men and women who are suicidal; and if he will make a statement outlining the additional resources he proposes to introduce in 2003, including financial, to address this growing problem. [28222/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 241, 245 and 246 together.
Since the publication of the report of the national task force on suicide in 1998, a cumulative total of more than €13 million has been provided towards suicide prevention and towards research aimed at improving understanding of this issue. The level of funding being provided by my Department for suicide prevention is now more than 20 times what it was in 1999.
The task force report recommended that steps be taken to make the mental health services more accessible to the public, particularly to young people. In this regard, additional funding has been made available in recent years to further develop consultant-led child and adolescent psychiatry services to assist in the early identification of suicidal behaviour and to provide the necessary support and treatment to individuals at risk. Significant additional funding has also been provided for many voluntary organisations who deal with people suffering from depression, mental illness and bereavement who are at risk of suicide and attempted suicide.
I assure the Deputy that the Government shares the public concern about the level of suicides in this country and is fully committed to supporting suicide prevention programmes. A national action-oriented strategy for suicide prevention is being considered jointly by the Health Boards Executive, HeBE, the national suicide review group and the Department of Health and Children. It is important to stress that this proposed strategy will build on existing policy and on the recommendations contained in the report of the national task force on suicide. All measures aimed at reducing the number of deaths by suicide will be considered in the preparation of this strategy.
The additional resources required to continue the work in suicide prevention and the further development of mental health services for individuals who may be at risk will be considered in the context of the overall determination of expenditure for mental health services for 2004 and subsequent years.
