Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 May 2013
21. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the steps she is taking to help reverse the increase of deaths by suicide of children in care, children known to the Health Service Executive’s child welfare and protection service and young persons in aftercare in 2012 or the 2011 number of cases notified to the National Review Panel (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21773/13]
View answerThe figures for referrals to the National Review Panel in 2011 and 2012 are as set out in the tables below. Cases referred to the Panel include:
- All deaths of children in care, including deaths by natural causes
- All deaths of children known to HSE child protection system
- Deaths of young adults (up to 21 years of age) who were in the care of the HSE in the period immediately prior to their 18th birthday or were in receipt of aftercare services
- Where a case of suspected or confirmed abuse involves the death of, or a serious incident to, a child known to the HSE or a HSE funded service
- Serious incidents involving children in care or children known to the HSE child protection services
NRP Notifications 2012
Table 1: Cause of Death
|
Cause of Death |
No. |
|
Drug Overdose |
0 |
|
Natural Causes |
7 |
|
Suicide |
9 |
|
Homicide |
1 |
|
Road Traffic Accident |
2 |
|
Other Accidental |
4 |
|
Total |
23 |
NRP Notifications 2011
Table 2: Cause of Death
|
Cause of Death |
No. |
|
Drug Overdose |
2 |
|
Natural Causes |
8 |
|
Suicide |
3 |
|
Homicide |
0 |
|
Road Traffic Accident |
1 |
|
Other Accidental |
1 |
|
Total |
15 |
Of the referrals in both 2011 and 2012 of children who were in the care of the State, there were two deaths in each year. All four of these children had terminal illnesses before they entered State care and were not expected to survive. The referrals of suicide cases in 2011(which include aftercare cases up to age 21) represent 20% of the total number of referrals to the panel in that year and 39% for 2012. There are not directly comparable data readily available for the general youth population. However, in the general youth population deaths by suicide accounted for 22% of all deaths of children aged 10-17 in 2011 (State of the Nation' Children Report, 2012). The figures for the general youth population deaths by suicide in 2012 are not yet available.
While the figures above highlight an increase in suicide cases referred to the National Review Panel between these two years this cannot be considered a trend owing to the very small amount of data available and the short reference period. In this regard, the Report of the Independent Child Death Review Group stated, inter alia, that 'while not seeking to minimise the gravity of the issue of deaths of children in care, in statistical terms the numbers will be small. Therefore any generalisation based on these numbers, or even comparisons with the general population is likely to be unreliable' . However this is an issue which will be monitored closely in the future. Further, the Chair of the National Review panel has recently highlighted the increased prevalence of suicide in the cases referred in 2012. In this regard there are plans to provide specialist training in the area to Review Panel members to assist in better understanding the underlying issues. The NRP also intends to produce themed reports in the future which will focus on areas such as this.
As regards the broader issue raised by the Deputy, my Department supports a range of community based programmes for all those working with young people in out-of-school settings. The training is based on the resource 'Mindout' which was developed by Health Promotion HSE West and NUI Galway. Mindout adopts a universal mental health promotion approach which has strong links with the "Support for all" element of the recent guidelines on Mental Health Promotion for Schools published by the HSE, Department of Education and Skills and the National Office for Suicide Prevention. In addition, the HSE is working proactively to ensure that front line staff are receiving training and receive continuing professional development with regard to suicide awareness and the promotion of positive mental health for young people.
