Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

I concur with many of the comments from previous contributors. There is little one can say in two and a half minutes except for every family that has been touched by suicide, words cannot express anything. One can only try to empathise with families affected by suicide because in many cases, people will blame themselves for the suicide of their loved ones. Unfortunately, there are practicalities that impinge on this personal tragedy. For example, the UK spends four times as much on mental health services as Ireland. There is a greater drink culture here than in continental Europe. These factors contribute to our high suicide rate.

Deputy Neville, who made a very telling contribution, pointed out that the majority of suicides are caused by mental health problems. I agree with Deputy Neville's point but I would like to use the short time available to focus on alcohol and young people, an issue that is closer to my heart. In some instances, alcohol is a contributing factor in the suicides caused by psychiatric or mental health problems. In a study by the Samaritans in 2003, a number of adolescents who had contacted the Samaritans were asked how many times they had been drunk in the previous year. Those who had contacted the Samaritans reported being drunk ten times more than those who had not contacted the Samaritans, which is telling. Between 400 and 500 young people commit suicide every year in Ireland. This represents one in three of all deaths of those between the ages of 15 and 24. The figure could be higher because the incidence of single-car accidents among male drivers is disproportionately high and we do not know how many people take their lives in this context.

We need to focus on alcohol and responsible drinking in this debate. Deputy McManus made a point regarding inequality, with which I concur.

I would also like to address the issues of community and family values. As we have prospered, the values and the respect we had for each other, the environment around us and our family and community have disappeared. There must be some collective way that we, as politicians, can try to encourage the restoration of those values without returning to the era of the squinting windows.

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