Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I do not have much to add. From what I can see, she is taking the issue seriously and analysing it to determine how best way to minimise the incidence rate. As she stated, this problem cannot be eliminated. I agree with her comments on streamlining and easy and correct access points. This is a major issue. Generally speaking, people are somewhat intimidated by the prospect of engaging with the State, bureaucracy and so on. If they are in a vulnerable situation, it is even more of a problem. An easy, widely recognised and trusted point of access through which they can get help and support would be key.

Nothing will ever eliminate the issue completely, but if we have that, hopefully a significant number will know there is a place to go when they feel that sense of despair. We must work on that and co-operate to achieve it.

With regard to the impact of the recession, there are two categories closely connected, namely, those affected by the impact of the recession in terms of unemployment and those affected by the disproportionate impact of unemployment on young people, young men in particular. They may be more affected by the perception that if they are out of work, they are somehow useless and have nothing at all. We must focus on this area. In the context of the unemployment crisis, this goes way beyond the Minister of State's Department. The focus is on young men in particular, but also, due to the impact of the recession, it is on people who have lost their jobs who now face financial pressures and wonder what is the purpose of their lives. We must also focus on this group, which is being hit disproportionately, and consider how we can engage with them. This means there must be some integration with social protection services to ensure consideration of this issue in people's engagement with those services. The mental health and suicide prevention services available must be flagged and must feature strongly in people's engagement with the Department of Social Protection.

In regard to unemployment, the Minister of State has said that the figures have decreased slightly recently. A recent study suggested that Ireland and Greece in particular had been hit very hard and that, since 2007 and 2008, there had been a 17% increase overall in suicides in Greece and a 13% increase in Ireland. It is welcome news that unemployment is stabilising and decreasing slightly, but are we only coming down from the peak rather than the pre-recession period?