The second annual report of the National Parasuicide Registry, which I launched last month, indicates that there were 10,537 presentations to hospitals due to deliberate self-harm in 2002. These presentations involved 8,421 individuals. The report provides a wealth of information on the general characteristics of people who attempt suicide and reveals, for example, that the parasuicide rate for females is approximately 40% higher than that for males. The report also highlights the high incidence of attempted suicide in young people, bearing in mind that 90% of all recorded self-harm presentations to hospital involve individuals under 50 years old.
The findings of this important report will help to identify groups which are particularly vulnerable to self-harm and will assist my Department and the health boards in evaluating the impact of the preventative and clinical services being provided. The analysis of the information it contains will be vital in the development of policies and the implementation of measures aimed at preventing suicide.
My Department has paid special attention over the past few years to the resourcing of suicide prevention initiatives. Since the publication of the report of the national task force on suicide in 1998, a cumulative total of more than €17.5 million has been provided for suicide prevention programmes and research. This year, more than €4.5 million is available to the various agencies to reduce the level of suicide and attempted suicide.
This includes funding to support the work of the health boards, the National Suicide Review Group, the Irish Association of Suicidology and the National Suicide Research Foundation for its work in the development of a national parasuicide register.
Significant additional funding has also been made available in recent years to further develop liaison psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, adult psychiatry and old age psychiatry services to assist in the early identification of suicidal behaviour and to provide the necessary support and treatment to individuals at risk. In this regard, figures recently published by Comhairle na nOspidéal indicate that 72 additional consultant psychiatric posts have been approved since 1998. My Department also supports the ongoing work of many organisations such as Mental Health Ireland, Grow, AWARE and Schizophrenia Ireland in raising public awareness of mental health issues. This year more than €3.8 million is available to the voluntary organisations for their work in this field.
Since the publication of the report of the National Task Force on Suicide in 1998, there has been a positive and committed response from both the statutory and voluntary sectors to finding ways of tackling this problem. In response to the recommendations of the task force, the National Suicide Review Group was established by the health boards and membership of the group includes experts in the areas of mental health, public health and research. Resource officers have been appointed in all the health boards with specific responsibility for implementing the task force's recommendations. The presence of a liaison psychiatric nurse in the accident and emergency departments of many general hospitals to deal with people who present following attempted suicide is also an important development.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House.
The provision of this service ensures that psychological problems in general hospital patients are dealt with promptly. This benefits the patient but also ensures a more efficient use of medical and surgical services. There are also numerous regional initiatives currently being run by the health boards in conjunction with non-statutory organisations, which focus on mental health issues like stress management, depression, stigma reduction and suicide-related matters. These are issues of paramount importance which require further attention to ensure that positive mental health and the well-being of people is promoted.
My Department also allocates funding, through the National Suicide Review Group, for voluntary and statutory groups engaged in suicide prevention initiatives, many of which are aimed at improving the mental health of the younger age groups. These projects include life-skills courses for high-risk youth, school-based personal development modules and mental health promotion campaigns.
With regard to the further development of suicide prevention programmes, the Health Boards Executive in partnership with the National Suicide Review Group, and supported by the Department of Health and Children, have commenced preparation of a new strategic action plan for suicide reduction. It is important to stress that this plan will be action-based from the outset, as it will build on existing policy as outlined in the national task force report in 1998. All measures aimed at reducing the number of deaths by suicide will be considered in the context of the preparation of this action plan.
I share the public concern about the level of parasuicides and suicides in this country. It is a worrying trend and I am fully committed to the further implementation of suicide prevention initiatives and the further development of our mental health services.
