Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)

I wish to share time with Deputy Derek Keating.

I thank the voters of Meath East for placing their trust in me. It is with great honour that I take a seat in this Chamber to represent them. I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, on her appointment and wish her every success in her role.

In 2009, some 529 lives were torn apart by suicide in 2009, an increase of 24% on the previous year. Trends for 2010 indicate the figure will increase again. These are only the recorded numbers and unofficial numbers are likely to be higher still. The sad reality is that there are many reasons a person takes his or her life. Each of these reasons deserves to be debated and a solution found in order that when people find themselves in a dark place, they will know they are not alone.

I will focus on two specific areas associated with the causes of suicide, namely, the recession and homophobic bullying. According to the National Office of Suicide Prevention, international research indicates that suicide numbers increase during an economic downturn. During the election campaign, I met people on a daily basis who were deeply concerned about their personal sense of worth in the Ireland in which we find ourselves. This was particularly the case for some younger families who had bought a house and car and had children before the crippling effects of the downturn began. It was especially the case for those who started their own business, took on debts beyond households debts and subsequently lost everything.

Throughout the campaign I listened to elderly parents who were worried about the effects of the recession on the state of mind of their grown-up children. A few short years previously, the same parents had watched with pride as their children set up businesses or invested to provide for their families' future. With the recession, their children have lost everything and the parents worry about their sense of hopelessness. The question they posed to us was how we could help them out of that dark place.

We must do more for the people affected by offering them hope that they will emerge from despair. Suicide prevention is not only the responsibility of the Department of Health and Children or Health Service Executive; it is about every Department working together to give opportunities to people again.

I suggest that the Departments of Education and Skills, Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation and Finance should play key roles in providing such opportunities to people. We need to give people financial independence through job creation and educational prospects. In that context, I was delighted to hear the Tánaiste announce yesterday that the jobs budget will take place next month. The types of programmes that will be put in place as a result of the mini-budget will help people to regain a sense of worth and ownership over their lives.

I would like to speak about the effect that bullying in our schools is having on the mental health of our teenagers. We are all aware of high-profile cases in the media of teenagers who have sadly taken their own lives because of bullying in and out of our schools. Last Thursday, I was asked to launch officially an anti-homophobic bullying campaign, "Stand Up", which is run by Belong To, an organisation with a long history of work with young gay teenagers in Ireland. Research from the National Office for Suicide Prevention shows the devastating effect homophobic bullying can have on a young person. It tells us that three out of five gay young people are bullied at school, half of all gay young people have seriously thought of ending their lives, a quarter of them have self-harmed at least once and one in five of them has attempted suicide. All of this is due to homophobic bullying.

The idea underpinning the "Stand Up" campaign is simple. It encourages teenagers and teachers to stand up for their gay friends and pupils. Some 1,600 resource packs have been sent to schools and youth clubs across the country. One of the difficulties with any awareness campaign is communicating to young people in a language they understand. This is one of the reasons a video, featuring a group of young people, has been produced as part of the resource packs. The video was posted on YouTube last weekend and has been viewed by 250,000 people to date, a phenomenal achievement and a credit to the team behind it. The video features the story of a young person who is being bullied and his reaction to the bullying. His isolation in the classrooms and hallways of the school is shown vividly, until it is broken by his friends gathering around him and creating an environment of support and respect. The "Stand Up" campaign is about creating an environment of empowerment so everyone can fulfil his or her potential in school and beyond.

Belong To is just one example of an organisation that is trying to make a difference in our schools. We need to develop further strategies to combat bullying in our schools. With this in mind, I am pleased there is a commitment in the programme for Government to "encourage schools to develop anti-bullying policies and in particular, strategies to combat homophobic bullying to support students". Strategies that help to confront bullying will reduce the incidence of young people being driven to feel that ending their lives is their only option. We need to work across all Departments to ensure we provide opportunities to people through jobs, education or support so they do not find themselves in a dark place, alone, without an answer or without hope. I intend to work closely with the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, on this issue. I will provide any support I can to reduce the scourge of suicide in Ireland.

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