Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her presentation. This issue should be more to the fore. Although it has been discussed more frequently in recent years, this is regrettable, as there has been an increase in the number of suicides for a variety of reasons. Good work has been done. For example, and as Deputy Nolan mentioned, people can come together with the best will in the world and try to set up helplines. In my area, I spent a night clashing with locals who wanted to set up a helpline because of the tragic case of a 14 year old girl. I tried to persuade them that there already were helplines and that they had not thought it through. The worst thing in the world would be for a helpline to be set up only to have it fall away two years later. I tried to persuade them to negotiate or liaise with existing providers to determine whether an additional helpline could be set up under the latter's remit. Eventually, that is the route people took. They channelled money through existing services. Sometimes, the best will in the world is not the most practical approach.

The remit of Reach Out: National Strategy for Action on Suicide Prevention is from 2005 to 2014. Is it intended to review this strategy? Has a group been set up to ensure that there is no gap in it? We have moved on a great deal since 2003 and 2004, when the strategy was being drafted. We have more services and information on the situation. The earlier we put together a follow-on strategy, the better. The service problems we have mentioned could be highlighted so that communities could have a greater understanding of the shortfalls in services, how those services should be funded and how suicide prevention can be better integrated into the education system, sporting bodies and everyday society.