Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

One of my bugbears is that many people have not been given suicide prevention training. I am not just talking about members of An Garda Síochána; I am also talking about teachers and nurses, etc. Everybody who deals with the public, including Deputies and Senators, should have such training. I know the HSE runs these courses free of charge. There is not even an expense on it. Obviously, there is an issue around how we train so many people. I would appreciate it if we could get some figures.

The other area of interest to me is the drug units. An Garda Síochána probably deals with drugs in two separate ways. First, it deals operationally with the major players in the drugs trade. Second, many addicts come into contact with An Garda Síochána, unfortunately, and they may have drugs on them for personal use. Most drugs convictions fall into that category. In recent years, there have been more and more fatalities from heroin overdoses.

I wonder if the rank and file who would be the type of people who deal with addicts daily have any training in the provision of Narcan or Naloxone, if they came across someone who had overdosed?