Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)

The Department and the Government have failed to implement them. I have met psychiatrists who say nothing can be done about suicide. In the mid-1990s Australia identified young male suicide as a serious issue and the Government there introduced expensive measures to combat suicide. As a result, the incidence of suicide has reduced by 24% and the lowest incidence occurs in males aged between 15 and 20.

Suicide results in a cost to the State. That may be considered insensitive but every suicide costs the State. I refer to international calculations of the cost. A successful suicide strategy will generate significant economic benefits above and beyond the cost of a suicide. Three distinct economic factors are associated with suicide — the loss of production as a result of a suicide, the potential future contribution to the economy of the person who dies and the human cost the individuals place on their lives. If this international calculation is applied to the most recent suicide statistics in Ireland, which were published in 2003, the cost to the State was approximately €800 million. A calculation can also be made regarding the cost of deliberate self-harm, which is estimated at approximately €40 million annually. While this may be crude and insensitive, money is needed to address the incidence of suicide.

See this speech in context