Robert Troy
Question:216. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health the measures his Department has in place to tackle suicide among young people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7341/13]
View answerWednesday, 13 February 2013
Questions (216)
Written answers
Dealing with the current high levels of suicide and deliberate self harm is a priority for this Government. Reach Out our National Strategy for Action on Suicide Prevention recognises the youth sector as a high risk group and sets out a number of specific actions. Consequently, the HSE's National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP) has developed a range of initiatives aimed specifically at supporting young people who are suicidal and also supporting their peers in recognising and responding appropriately to signs of emotional distress and suicidal thoughts.
A wide range of awareness and training programmes are available in the area of mental health promotion and suicide prevention. These include SafeTALK which trains participants to become more alert to the possibility of suicide in their community and other training programmes such as Reaching Out, ASIST, Taking Control, MindOut and STOP.
A number of media awareness campaigns have been run in recent years including the Let someone know campaign which focused specifically on young people and delivered the message that it is important to reach out and seek the support of others. Other awareness programmes include the The Please Talk initiative, running in third level colleges since 2007, which encourages young people experiencing problems to talk to others and identifies the supports available to those in need.
Jigsaw, an innovative community-based support service for young people, has been developed by Headstrong and is designed to promote systems of care that are accessible, youth-friendly, integrated, and engaging for young people. Through additional Innovation Funding, this service is now available or in development in 11 sites around the country.
Mindful that schools are one of the key settings for the promotion of mental health and well-being of young people and that they are also in the position to identify young people experiencing emotional difficulties, the NOSP has worked closely with the Department of Education and Skills to develop Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention in post-primary schools.
The annual budget for suicide prevention increased this year to over €13m, with €8.1m available to NOSP to fund voluntary and statutory agencies delivering services in the area of prevention, intervention, postvention and research and the remaining €5m available regionally to fund Resource Officers for Suicide Prevention, Self-Harm Liaison Nurses in Hospital Emergency Departments and local suicide prevention initiatives. The NOSP is currently working to integrate current programmes within the sector and to provide a strategic framework for the coordination of the extensive range of actions in this area.