Dan Neville
Question:44 Mr. Neville asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the plans her Department has formulated to introduce the recommendations of the national taskforce on suicide. [26281/04]
View answerThursday, 28 October 2004
Questions (58)
Written answers
Following 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 towards finding ways of tackling the tragic problem of suicide. 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. Health boards, in particular, have a major role to play in co-ordinating efforts to help reduce the level of suicide and parasuicide in this country. In this regard, resource officers have been appointed in all the health boards with specific responsibility for implementing the task force's recommendations.
My Department has given special attention over the past number of years to the resourcing of suicide prevention initiatives. Since the publication of the task force report in 1998, a cumulative total of more than €17.5 million has been provided since towards suicide prevention programmes and for research. This year more than €4.5 million is available to the various agencies working towards reducing the level of suicide and attempted suicide in this country. This includes the health boards, the National Suicide Review Group, the Irish Association of Suicidology and the National Suicide Research Foundation.
The recently published annual report of the National Suicide Review Group, NSRG, meets the requirement of The Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2001, that the Minister for Health and Children will report annually on the measures taken by health boards to prevent suicides in the previous year. This report, which was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas on 29 September, outlines the measures taken by the health boards and other agencies in 2003 to help prevent suicide and reduce the impact of suicidal behaviour. The aim of the report is to facilitate the sharing of information across the health boards and other sectors regarding suicide prevention projects and to provide accurate and current information on the patterns of death by suicide in Ireland.
I share the public concern about the level of suicides in this country and I am fully committed to the intensification of suicide prevention measures and research programmes and in this regard, work is now well under way on the preparation of a strategic action plan for suicide reduction. This strategy, involving the Health Boards Executive, HeBE, in partnership with the National Suicide Review Group and supported by the Department of Health and Children 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.
Question No. 45 answered with QuestionNo. 10.
Question No. 46 answered with QuestionNo. 18.
Question No. 47 answered with QuestionNo. 22.