Jim Glennon (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this important but sad topic. Like my colleagues on all sides of the House, I am gravely concerned by the growing rate of suicide here and the statistics are extremely worrying.

Suicide touches the lives of many families and has an intensely devastating effect. Many of us know of a family touched by the tremendous pain of losing a loved one through suicide. I know of many families in my constituency who have had to bear this unenviable and intense loss which is difficult to accept and understand. I have also seen how the resulting pain and anguish, and sometimes anger, affects not only the family but the entire community or town in which the deceased lived. We all agree that suicide and reducing the rate of it are an important public health issue.

I looked for an appropriate definition of suicide when researching my contribution. It was difficult to find one, but I came across some interesting phrases. One in particular stood out in its clarity and simplicity. It was: "Suicide is not chosen. It happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain." We must focus on the last part — the resources for coping with pain. This is where we, as legislators, can make a difference. In this regard I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, for the personal interest he has taken in this issue, and also, in his absence, Deputy Dan Neville for all the work he has done in this area over the years.

It is accepted that we all experience real pain at some stage in our lives. Dealing with that pain is the secret. The resources available to us to deal with it and how we apply them to the pain are what affect our lives and the lives of those closest to us. Most people do not understand suicide. I do not. We experience a variety of emotions when we hear of the death of someone from suicide. There is no easy explanation.

I was interested to hear it explained in this way. If we put a weight on someone's shoulder and then continually add to that burden, the person will eventually collapse because of the weight. Comparisons to this simplistic description may be drawn with someone who commits or tries to commit suicide. That person has come to the point where the weight is too much. As parliamentarians, we have an obligation to ensure the resources for coping with pain always outweigh the pain.

Recently, the Scottish Executive examined the problem of suicide. Scotland has similar statistics to us in this area. Scotland has launched an impressive and expansive programme, Choose Life, which states that tackling suicide must be a long-term strategy as there are no short-term solutions for a problem of this magnitude. It also states that tackling suicide as a single issue policy will result in failure. Therefore, I suggest that our policy on preventing suicide must be at the heart of all our policies, particularly those associated with social justice, education, health, inequality, community affairs, local government, plans for economic regeneration and right across the board. We have a duty to cater for suicide and to reduce the risk.

The Choose Life programme states that the most effective way to tackle suicide is to provide early support and intervention, thereby developing a wide range of supports and services. The need to provide improved training for our front line workers is imperative so that situations can be identified early and that, where possible, suicide can be prevented. I commend to all the Choose Life report and programme of the Scottish Executive.

I want to draw a link between depression and suicide. The American Institute of Suicidology has issued interesting statistics. It has stated that the risk of suicide in people with major depression is approximately 20 times that of the general population. An alarming statistic is that seven out of every 100 men and one out of every 100 women who have been diagnosed with depression at some stage in their lifetime will go on to complete suicide. This is worrying and alarming. We should keep this in mind at all times when dealing with this tragic issue.

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