John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, Chairman. I acknowledge the Chairman's ongoing support and the support of the committee for the public consultation process that we are undertaking with regard to suicide prevention. I also welcome the witnesses this morning. I do not intend to say a great deal about the paper being presented. I would prefer to listen to the comments and opinions of the witnesses. Some clarifications have been offered in the opening statements of some of the witnesses. These clarifications have been noted and will be incorporated into the report in due course.

The committee will note that I have circulated new hard copies of the paper. There have been one or two minor changes. It was pointed out to me that the intention of the paper may not be 100% clear. Therefore, I added one or two minor changes in the interests of achieving greater clarity. The document downloaded and circulated to members previously is almost identical, although not quite, to the hard copy before members this morning. For example, the signposts for conversations within the paper might best be approached as if they were a series of questions. Instead of being thought of as recommendations, it might be better to consider asking the question, "What if we were to..." followed by the signposts.

I will detail something of my background for information. I am the health spokesperson for the Labour Party in Seanad Éireann. Previously, I worked for 28 years as a psychiatric nurse in the Irish and United Kingdom mental health services, mainly in the area of acute mental health. I was appointed as committee rapporteur. I decided to approach the project in a manner that might not immediately suggest itself. Some might have thought that a good place to start would have been to hold discussions with the Department, the National Office for Suicide Prevention or the main agencies working in the area. However, I decided to pursue a different path. Instead, I sought the opinion of members of the public in the first instance, including people who have been affected by or who have an interest in the area. Having done that, I decided I would bring the concerns to the attention of the main stakeholding organisations. This is how we find ourselves at this meeting this morning.

I held public consultation meetings at nine locations through the country. They were attended by approximately 600 people. I also met many individuals, groups and organisations. During the past 12 months I have devoted virtually all my time to the process. During the course of the public consultation many concerns were raised about the issues of suicide and suicide prevention and I have incorporated those concerns into five main points in the paper. The first point relates to the effects of the recession. The point was one of the most frequently raised topics from the public. Points 2 to 5, inclusive, were raised frequently as well. I do not believe any member of the public used the actual words that I have used in the report. For example, no one said to me that we need to reconfigure the policy formulation and delivery apparatus. The point set out in conversation five uses my words but they contain the ideas of the members of the public with whom I consulted. In attempting to bring together the various points I formulated them in the manner apparent in the document. To expand on the points and create a conversation around them I laid them out in the manner apparent in the paper. While the writing is mine, the ideas are not. I could have laid out the five points for discussion as a series of questions from one through to five. However, to create a conversation around the points and achieve a level of engagement with stakeholders I decided to put forward some ideas about how they might be addressed.

I am pleased to note a divergence of opinion among the stakeholders with regard to the paper. That is the point of the exercise. I look forward to hearing the opinions of the committee. I remind the witnesses that this is not a final report. These are the opinions and comments that I have gathered from members of the public and they have been formally brought before the committee and the witnesses. Following today's hearings, I intend to move onto the next phase of public consultation, which will involve engagement with the stakeholder organisations at former level.