John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I congratulate Independent Members for putting this motion to the House and join other speakers in commending Deputy Neville on his work on suicide. The problem of suicide has reached crisis proportions in Ireland. I remember as a child hearing that Sweden had the highest rates of suicide internationally, but perhaps that was apocryphal. While we hear now that Hungary and other eastern European countries have very high rates of suicide, Ireland has phenomenal levels. There is not a family or neighbourhood that has not been touched in some way by this growing trend.

As Deputies, Members are very aware of the impact suicide can have on a community. While the death of a family member is always a source of grief, suicide leaves mental and emotional scars that are very difficult to heal. Suicide is quite simply devastating for families who feel anger and guilt in equal measure while the questions of "why" and "what if" remain. There are no easy answers, which makes suicide a very difficult and sensitive political issue. Members on this side are reluctant to make suicide a political issue as we do not wish to create a political football from a matter that is very sensitive for the families involved. Nevertheless, there are questions to be asked, which is why the motion has been moved.

Suicide is largely a white male phenomenon, though statistics from the United States of America suggest this is changing. The AWARE report, which like most Deputies I have read in preparation for the debate, demonstrates that there are three essential components of suicide, the most important of which is depression followed by traumatic loss and alcohol and illicit drug abuse.

Some 90% of those who attempt to commit or commit suicide suffer from some form of depression, which is a telling statistic. We do not really deal properly with the issue of mental health, which has been largely ignored. The problem is that once depression sets in a person's thinking becomes restricted to the extent that there appears to be only one logical outcome — perhaps one could call it a twisted logic — which is to end one's life.

Research shows that, unfortunately, telephone help-lines, such as that of the Samaritans, do not seem to work. Last weekend, I visited a beauty spot in England which features a series of cliffs. People have taken their own lives at that location and right beside the cliffs there was a telephone number for the Samaritans. I thought it was a futile gesture to provide the number, however, because anyone contemplating suicide is hardly going to use their mobile phone at the last minute to ring the Samaritans. We need to understand, therefore, what works in preventing suicide and what does not. According to the AWARE report, the Samaritans' service does not work and, likewise, school information programmes on suicide appear to have little impact. Those of us who qualify as lay people in this area may not have been fully aware of these facts but now we know that certain things do not work. We also know that where methods of suicide are made easier, more people will obviously avail of them. This is an important factor in the United States where 60% of suicides result from firearms. It is different here because guns are not widely available.

Alcohol abuse is not being addressed properly, as I have said repeatedly. We are talking about the implementation of a task force report on suicide, but we should also examine the question of implementing the report of the task force on alcohol abuse. Why have those recommendations not been implemented? There is a cultural aspect in that, in many ways, we have glamorised the consumption of alcohol. Many years ago, I recall that the current Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, appeared on RTE's "Late Late Show". Another guest on the show advocated the use of cannabis, but Deputy Harney condemned him out of hand. When she was asked about alcohol, however, she said there was nothing wrong with it. I put it to the Minister of State that the real drug problem in this country is not heroin, crack cocaine or cannabis, but alcohol. We are ignoring it at our peril. Alcohol affects one's mood and leads to depression. The question is whether that in itself leads to depression and, in turn, to suicide or whether there is a direct correlation between excessive alcohol consumption and suicide. In any event, we have not implemented those recommendations and continue to permit the advertisement of alcohol at sporting events, which are sponsored by drinks firms. This is completely unacceptable. Yesterday, during a break in a television news bulletin, I saw an advertisement for Coors Lite which glamorised the consumption of alcohol. More young people are drinking at an increasingly early age and that is leading to increased suicides.

The AWARE report goes into many details about why things have changed, but what has changed? The House may take the statistics as it wishes, but the report states that three studies have compared trends and demographic features in Europe. They found that the increasing suicide rate in people aged 15 to 24 is associated with a higher divorce rate, high unemployment, and a reduction in the population under the age of 15. Ireland has experienced huge social change and AWARE makes it clear that in other countries such change has had negative results. I am not saying the Government can do much about some of the aspects involved in social change, but we need to examine closely why people are engaging in anti-social behaviour.

Another problem is the decline in church attendance and the fact that people do not have a strong belief system to counteract the trend towards suicide. I agree with speakers who said that one cannot always be sure that past suicide figures were compiled accurately. For example, there were 71 suicides in 1947, although the real figure may have been higher. I can see that the Minister of State is sceptical and perhaps he is right. The figure may have been a lot higher in those days when people were afraid to admit it. Even if they were disguising the level of suicide, however, it is a fact that it has increased enormously.

As regards suicide prevention programmes, the AWARE report makes it clear that there are tell-tale signs concerning potential suicides. We need to examine that matter. Primary care can play an essential role in detecting those with suicidal tendencies. The Minister must implement the primary care strategy which can deal with 90% of illnesses, including depression.

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