Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I apologise in advance for something that was arranged just last week. I welcome the opportunity to address the committee today. I will not give the entire official speech because members might like to spend more of the limited time we have asking questions. I know a briefing note has been circulated to the members and I hope it has been helpful.

Mr. Gerry Raleigh, on my left, is the new director of the National Office for Suicide Prevention and he will take questions on the new strategy for the office. Members are probably very familiar with Ms Geraldine Fitzpatrick, as this is her fourth time to be here this year. Ms Sandra Walsh has a specific brief in the mental health area and Ms Fitzpatrick has overall responsibility in the Department for the area of mental health.

As members will note from the briefing document, the numbers for suicide have actually reduced. We will not have this year's numbers until next year. That is the mechanism for how we gather our statistics.

We have several campaigns running, such as Safe Talk and Assist. I will only mention items I believe will be new to members in respect of what we intend to do. Mr. Gerry Raleigh will take members through the new strategy. We have had several representations in regard to introducing Safe Talk into secondary schools and are looking into that - that is not in the briefing note - and considering, first, whether it is appropriate to do it and, second, whether it is logistically possible. Ultimately, given we have introduced a system in co-operation with the Department of Education and Skills regarding a whole-of-school approach, it seems the next step would be to consider whether we should introduce Safe Talk to an appropriate age group within the second level system.

The launch of Reach Out by the HSE's national office for suicide prevention has worked to raise suicide awareness by developing a wide range of awareness and training programmes which include the development of the Safe Talk and Assist training programmes that train participants to become more alert to the possibility of suicides in their community. We were discussing this earlier and it seems we are now training up to 3,000 people a year. Naturally, those people will have an effect on those around them. We are making progress. The Mind Your Mental Health and Let Someone Know awareness campaigns highlight the need to look after mental health. We are not where we need to be but are making progress and moving in a positive fashion, with the movement always being forward.

The programme also funds campaigns targeted at specific groups within the community, for example, the farming community, through farm television. These programmes have been well evaluated in terms of impact. The focus of these national campaigns is to assist the individual to understand the importance of looking after his or her mental health and to seek help at times of stress. Once these campaigns are up and running, however, it is essential that when people reach out for that help, it is available to them, especially so when they find themselves in distress. I thought it very interesting that yesterday Senator Norris spoke about his mental health after the presidential election, saying he found it very difficult to realise he was so distressed and actually needed help. That is also an issue. Where does one turn when that happens? The message has to be very clear, with a clean line, as to where the access point is and where people can be delivered on to a more appropriate service. Sometimes this may be very low level. Perhaps the GP can do it or counselling or psychology will work. However, there are other times where more intensive interventions are needed. We are looking at all these approaches.

The Headstrong and Jigsaw programme is available at ten sites throughout the country. This innovative youth mental health programme works with young people, communities and local services to change the way Ireland thinks about youth mental health. People may know this programme in their own area. The Chairman has one in his area and so does Deputy Nolan. There is also one in Tralee. Anybody who has this service realises its value. There is self-referral from the street, and no matter who one meets on that premises, they are people who have training in mental health. The person giving the cup of coffee or answering the telephone has that training. The more intensive appropriate service is available afterwards.

Schools are a key setting for the promotion of mental health and well-being of young people and they are in a position to identify young people experiencing emotional difficulties. The Department of Health and the Department of Education and Skills work closely with the HSE and the national office to develop guidelines for mental health promotion and suicide prevention in post-primary schools. These guidelines, published in January, provide a clear framework, with information for schools and agencies supporting schools on how to address issues of mental health promotion and suicide prevention. That whole-of-school approach must be the way to go. We cannot foresee which person in that school is the one the young person in crisis finds most appropriate to approach. It may not be the teacher or the guidance counsellor and it may not be the principal, so everyone in the school needs to have that training so that when the crisis occurs, they will know how to respond.

I acknowledge the tremendous work being carried out by many of the voluntary and statutory agencies in providing services for those who may be experiencing a personal crisis. That crisis may very well be severe, in other cases it may not be, but nevertheless it is a crisis for that person. We cannot dismiss any of the circumstances in which people find themselves. In these difficult economic times, with increasing demands on services, it is important that we work together and link our resources in an effort to tackle this serious issue and create an environment that is enabling rather than disabling for people in distress. Mr. Raleigh will talk about the number of groups we have that are prepared to help in any way. These are groups that usually arise out of personal or community tragedy. Co-ordination is key. There are the national groups, such as the Samaritans, Console, Aware and others, which all do tremendous work, under contract, for both the HSE and the Department of Health. We have all that but there are also the smaller groups. Everyone must have the same message. The Government will never be able to be in every town at every street corner, so it is these smaller local groups that do such a tremendous amount of work. We must ensure they have the support and the single message, and that they can link into the other services when more than their support is needed. That is very important.

Last year we launched a programme with the Samaritans which will roll out very shortly - I believe at the end of June-----