Has the Government addressed the crisis of despair and hopelessness particularly among young people? The average number of suicides is now running at approximately 450, which is in excess of the number of people killed by road accident. The victims are, by a ratio of four to one, young males and 85% to 90% of those who commit suicide suffer at some stage from mental illness.
Professor Anthony Clare stated some time ago that the mentally ill are the most stigmatised group in our society, the lepers of today. Is the Tánaiste aware that last year more than 10,000 people, mostly young persons, presented at accident and emergency units having attempted suicide? This figure does not include those who did not present or who presented at general practitioners. Does this not indicate a colossal failure of Government to address a fundamental crisis of despair and hopelessness affecting the future generation?
What has the Government done about suicide? What programmes are in place to deal with it, in view of the fact that with regard to Australia, for instance, it is now internationally accepted that suicide rates have dropped by 30% as a result of the implementation of government programmes? Will the Tánaiste comment, on behalf of the Government, on what action is being taken and the reason for the colossal neglect of what Amnesty International described as the neglected quarter?