Vol. 490 No. 4
3 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Health and Children the proposals and time frame he has to implement the recommendations of the National Task Force on Suicide as detailed in the report of January 1998; the details and terms of reference of the recently formed review group of the National Task Force on Suicide; the date at which this group will issue its final report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10389/98]
The Report of the National Task Force on Suicide which was published in February 1998 put forward a national suicide prevention reduction strategy and identified the various authorities with jurisdiction in suicide prevention strategies and their respective responsibilities.
Since the publication of the report, I have been in contact with relevant ministerial colleagues with a view to implementing the task force recommendations and my Department has contacted all the statutory agencies with jurisdiction in suicide prevention strategies, referred to by the task force in its report, requesting that the necessary measures are put in place to ensure the implementation of the recommendations which relate to their respective areas. My Department will be monitoring progress towards the implementation of the task force recommendations.
The establishment of a suicide research group by the chief executive officers of the health boards is central to the strategy to prevent and reduce suicide and attempted suicide. The chief executive officers have established the group and it is expected that the first meeting will be convened shortly.
The main responsibilities of the suicide research group will be to review ongoing trends in suicide and parasuicide, to co-ordinate research into suicide and to make appropriate recommendations to the chief executive officers. The Deputy will appreciate, therefore, that the work of this group will be ongoing and the group will be reporting regularly to the chief executive officers.
