Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on the high level of suicide in Irish society. We all have friends, neighbours and family who have been directly affected by this sad situation. It is a nightmare for everyone, the person and his or her family. It seems to be getting worse in spite of all the wealth and extra resources in modern Ireland.

Suicide prevention starts with us, we are all part of the problem but can also be part of the solution. We must look at ourselves and ask if we are listening to each other enough. Are we paying attention to friends, family, neighbours and the community? We live in a fast moving age where everyone is busy and stressed. Is there a need to be so stressed and busy? We must pay more attention to people at home, in our jobs and in our local areas as part of the preventative strategy for suicide in this country. I commend those families and carers who have done a lot of good work in this area, particularly those who support young people.

More than 11,000 cases of deliberate self-harm were seen in accident and emergency wards around the country in 2004, with many more cases coming to the attention of other sections of the health service. This is the reality in Ireland in 2006. Each case is complex and involves many issues but a clear strategy is needed and when it is not working we should be brave enough to admit it and to look for new solutions. This is too serious an issue to turn a blind eye to and I urge the House to unite on this issue and deal with suicide in a balanced and measured way.

People who were abused as children make up many of these figures. They are seriously damaged, with dark, hidden secrets. Often they do not declare their abuse until they are in their 30s. I have met many of them in constituency clinics. We must face up to this because the connection between abuse and suicide is clear. Bullying of young children in schools can also lead to suicide later in life. A good teacher can do a lot by watching children, dealing with bullying and addressing the harassment of children in schools who feel the world has turned its back on them.

Elderly people are suffering from depression, feeling that no one cares about them. When doing constituency work during the summer months, I often see elderly people cowering behind locked and bolted doors, afraid to answer a knock for fear of intimidation. They are trapped in their own homes and society must face this.

Other Deputies have mentioned drug abuse. I have been involved in anti-drug campaigns and have had to attend the funerals of many of my past pupils and have seen others end up in Mountjoy Prison because of drugs. We must ask, however, how they were sucked into this as children. It was usually as a result of low self esteem and problems in their personal and family lives. If we do not identify those children, and help them at four, five and six years of age, we can forget about them when they are 12 or 13 because we have already lost most of them; the damage is done. They will look for a buzz that will make them feel important and happy, hence the huge market for drugs. The children I describe are drawn from the thousands of dysfunctional and crisis families, many of which are violent. That is the drugs connection and it must be addressed on the ground.

We must also challenge well-off young people from middle class areas who work in high profile jobs and take a little cocaine at the weekend. They are part of the problem because they create a market for these types of drugs. It is unacceptable that people take cocaine at the weekend and go into their nice, yuppie jobs on Monday morning. It is unacceptable that Donna Cleary was sprayed with bullets in my constituency. There is a connection between violent crime and cocaine and drugs, low self-esteem and suicide.

It is important to note the facts and figures. Every year, approximately 450 people die as a result of suicide and the figure is increasing. I commend the Joint Committee on Health and Children for its work in producing this report and compliment Deputy Neville on his excellent work in this area. The report proposes many constructive, sensible solutions and politicians have a role to play in implementing them.

The Celtic tiger has created a society which moves so fast that a section of our population is overlooked. This brings to mind the words of the famous French sociologist, Emile Durkheim, who, addressing this topic in the 19th century, wrote: "Man is the more vulnerable to self-destruction the more he is detached from any collectivity, that is to say, the more he lives as an egoist." We must tackle the spiritual void at the heart of Irish society which is producing a form of escapism that leads to drugs, binge drinking, violence and suicide.

I commend those on the ground who have produced serious strategies and policies to address the issue of suicide in our schools. In many cases, part of the solution for a child from a dysfunctional family can be the support given by a primary school teacher or classroom assistant. Being available when needed often means deciding not to send a child home from school at 3 p.m. to face a crisis in the family home but instead keeping them in school and involving them in art, sport or music projects. This type of approach generates positivity and helps address low self-esteem.

Tragically, as several speakers noted, the suicide rate among males here is among the highest in Europe. While the economic boom has brought many fruits, it is dawning on us that growth for growth's sake may not sit well with a caring and inclusive society. Politicians, as leaders, must address this issue. Given the financial resources and income available to us, there are no acceptable excuses for leaving people behind. How should additional resources be distributed? The Government will have to face up to the fact that they must be allocated to the most needy because this is part of the solution. We cannot allow the people of whole areas to feel completely excluded. If intimidation is widespread on estates or blocks of flats in various parts of Dublin, Limerick, Cork or Galway, we can expect that some of the residents will suffer from depression and low self-esteem and believe the State does not care about them. This fact is part of the broader social debate which must be faced if we are to effectively address issues such as suicide.

While I have focused on young males and suicide, young females and elderly people are also vulnerable. I hope a sub-committee on the high level of suicide in Irish society will be established, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Health and Children's report. I commend Deputy Neville and many other Deputies for focusing on suicide. Irrespective of political differences, Members must come together to adopt sensible policies to address the problem. We must wake up and smell the coffee because it is unacceptable that 450 people are dying as a result of suicide every year.

Insufficient attention has been paid to the connection between child sexual abuse and suicide. The first question I often ask victims and survivors of this form of abuse is why they did not tell people what had happened to them earlier. The response is always mixed. They say they were afraid to do so, felt guilty or believed it was their fault. This frequently results in the victim suffering from depression and other problems. We must tell the victims of child sexual abuse that they are not at fault and the community wants to help them. Many groups and organisations are doing a great deal of work on sexual abuse. We must expose this problem, which persists in many of the large number of dysfunctional families in our community. Those who have been directly affected by childhood sexual abuse are familiar with the hardship associated with it.

This is an important debate and a wake-up call for us all. We must address the tragic crisis of suicide by adopting sensible policies in the areas of prevention, education and families. I do not use the word "crisis" lightly in the House but the situation is serious. The Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, has some sensible ideas and Members will support him, the HSE and all those on the ground who have a genuine interest in taking action to prevent suicide. The onus is on us all to do something.

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