Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

Any chance in public life to speak about suicide should be taken and I am grateful for today's opportunity. As Minister of State with responsibility for mental health my priority will be to further advance the implementation of A Vision for Change, an excellent strategy which must be driven forward, and Reach Out, the national strategy for action on suicide prevention. Both strategies clearly identify the need to build resilience, support the development of services and programmes for unemployed people and to reduce the risk of engaging in suicidal behaviour.

The number of deaths by suicide fell steadily from 497 in 2003 to 458 in 2007. However, the recently published CSO vital statistics for 2008 reported that there were 506 suicides for that year, an increase of 10.5% over 2007. The provisional figures available for 2009 indicate a further increase of 4% to 527, the highest level of suicide deaths ever recorded in this country. This would appear to indicate that a new higher level of suicides now pertains and shows just how big a challenge we face. The increase is mainly in men in the middle age group. However, we are also seeing a rise in the number of women dying by suicide, although the numbers are still significantly lower than in men.

Deaths by suicide have a devastating effect not just on close family and friends but on the wider community. These deaths are even more tragic because we know they are preventable. We all ask the question "why" and wonder what we could have done to prevent such a tragedy. Undoubtedly, the current economic position is having an effect on people's mental health and well-being. The impact of unemployment and the strain of financial difficulties on physical and mental health are well known. Following job loss, people report higher levels of stress, depression and anger. The loss of personal control and self-esteem makes it more difficult at times to keep in contact with friends and colleagues.

In this regard, the HSE's national office for suicide prevention, NOSP, has launched a "tough economic times" programme following requests from organisations such as Citizens Information and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, MABS, for information and training because of the increasing numbers of people presenting in distress. Some 150,000 information leaflets highlighting the practical actions we can take to protect our mental health were produced for the public, as well as a guidance book for organisations which advises how to prepare staff to recognise and respond to suicidal behaviours. Farmers' marts were also targeted with information, as well as events such as the ploughing championships.

The increasing number of deaths by suicide is of great concern. As the recently appointed Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, I intend to work with the HSE and voluntary agencies to introduce initiatives to counteract this worrying trend. By harnessing our resources and our commitment, we can make a difference and reduce the number of suicides and suicide's devastating effects on individuals and on communities. We must work more closely together. As a first step we must ensure that we avoid duplication of services and suicide prevention initiatives. This will help us get better value for the money that is available to us and make sure that we maximise our effectiveness.

Mental health promotion is of course a key component of any suicide prevention strategy. We must make people aware and encourage them to look after their mental health in the same way as they look after their physical health. We should promote resilience and encourage people to develop coping strategies, and in particular ensure people learn to recognise when professional help is required.

See Changeis the national stigma reduction campaign launched by my predecessor, former Deputy John Moloney, and I pay tribute to him for the work in this area. It will continue in 2011 with the vision that every person in Ireland can be open and positive about their own and others' mental health. The strategy is working to change attitudes to mental health in towns all over Ireland through public events, arts and cultural initiatives, personal stories and testimonies, training and education and innovative partnerships with organisations that share a positive attitude towards mental health. As part of this campaign, See Changeis developing the Make a Ripplecampaign with the objective of recruiting a dedicated on-line community of ambassadors, advocates, storytellers and volunteers who can help to push the campaign's objectives and messages on to the national agenda. This campaign will contribute to eliminating the stigma so often associated with mental illness and I am very happy to lend my support to it.

A number of suicide prevention initiatives have been progressed in recent years, including the development and implementation of national training programmes. Since 2004, approximately 22,500 people have been trained in the 2 day ASIST - applied suicide intervention skills training - and 3,000 people in Safetalk, a half-day training programme that prepares anyone over the age of 15 to identify persons with thoughts of suicide and connect them to suicide first aid resources. ASIST is an internationally recognised two-day workshop which trains participants to reduce the immediate risk of a suicide and increase the support for a person at risk. The training is provided to health workers, organisations such as MABS, gardaí, defence forces, veterinary organisation, teachers, community workers, youth workers, volunteers and to people responding to family, friends and co-workers.

A national media monitoring programme - Headline - was introduced to promote responsible and accurate coverage of mental health and suicide-related issues within the Irish media. Headline aims to highlight mental health issues and address the stigma attached to emotional distress, suicidal behaviour and mental illness through the promotion of responsible media coverage. This year, the national office for suicide prevention is working to progress a more unified and consistent response to self-harm presentations in accident and emergency departments. This will include the development of clinical guidelines and the allocation of specialist staff to work with hospital emergency departments.

An evaluation will be carried out this year on two self-harm early intervention and referral services from primary care which are being piloted in south Dublin and Wexford. Support will continue for voluntary organisations working in the field of suicide prevention. Mental health awareness campaigns have been developed and will run again this year, including the Your Mental Healthawareness campaign and the Let Someone Know campaign aimed at young people.

The total annual funding available to support suicide prevention initiatives is in the region of €8.7 million. This includes the annual budget of €4.2 million for the NOSP and an additional €1 million provided for 2011 to enable the office to build on initiatives to date and bring added momentum and new impetus to the activities to address the increasing incidence of suicide. The balance of funding of €4.5 million is used to fund resource officers for suicide prevention, self-harm nurses in hospital emergency departments and the development of local suicide prevention initiatives.

During 2011, the national office for suicide prevention will continue to develop both the number and range of training and awareness programmes, including the ASISTprogramme, to reach the most vulnerable in our communities. It will also improve and standardise the response to deliberate self harm presentations; develop the capacity of primary care to respond to suicidal behaviour and consider new models of response; and ensure that helpline supports for those in emotional distress are coordinated and widely publicised. Within each of these four areas an emphasis will be placed on the most vulnerable groups identified in Reach Outand more recent research.

Against a background of increasing numbers of presentations of self harm to our hospital emergency departments and a significant increase in suicides in recent years, it is important that we co-ordinate and improve our response to people in crisis at this time. The European Commission has reserved the number 116123 for emotional support helplines. This helpline will enable callers to benefit from a genuine human relationship based on non-judgmental listening, and will offer emotional support to callers who suffer from loneliness, are in a state of psychological crisis or are contemplating suicide. I recently had discussions with my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, in regard to the provision of a national freephone telephone helpline and I will meet with the relevant telecommunication providers in the near future to progress this proposal.

I acknowledge there is a great deal of commitment in many sectors to tackle this serious health and social issue. As policy makers and service providers, we must all work together more effectively than ever to identify people at risk and must put services in place to provide the help and support they need. This House can be assured of the Government's unwavering commitment to improving our mental health services and of our response to the increasing level of suicides in the country.

Suicide and suicide prevention are issues for all of us. No single Government - not the last one, this one or the next one - can do this on its own. It is about every one of us being conscious when we meet people of the difficulties in which they may find themselves, being able to spot that and be aware. For that reason, I believe the programme Assist is essential. It trains people to be conscious of these difficulties and about where to direct them. Training young people in this area will probably save more lives than all the other steps put together. That is why we are so committed to it.

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