David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)

I am sad about the necessity to address this issue. I pay tribute to the joint committee and the author of the report, which is short, to the point, easily read and brings forward 33 recommendations that will cost €60.09 million. Will the Minister of State communicate with each Member and indicate what will be the Government's reaction to each of those recommendations? He stated that the Government will spend €1.2 million on suicide prevention initiatives this year. The report calls for €60.09 million to be spent. I accept that there are various overlaps, but we must be clear on the areas of the report that will be addressed by the Government. We must be informed as to how much will be spent in each area and when such spending will take place. I call on the Minister of State, when replying or at a later date, to indicate to Members what will be the Government's exact response to each of the 33 recommendations.

I am pleased that the Government, as the Minister of State indicated, has accepted the recommendations in the report. Does that mean they will be implemented? It is crucial that they should be implemented. We need to be informed as to the timeframes and the details involved in respect of each of the recommendations.

I worked for many years as a counsellor in a second level school. I dealt with younger people on a one-to-one basis in that capacity. It is important that counsellors are available to young people in our schools. On previous occasions in the House, I have referred to the position of career guidance counsellors. Emphasis is often placed on the career guidance side of their work. In the United Kingdom, however, the job has been split and there are now career officers and counsellors. Students often approach the relevant teachers under the guise of seeking career guidance advice when they really want to discuss a problem with which they are faced or a feeling they are experiencing. In such circumstances, a skilled counsellor will be able to identify that something is not right and will know what questions to ask. He or she will know how to refer the person with the problem on for further help. It is important that there should be a place to which such individuals can be referred.

I received calls from general practitioners in my area who indicated that, until recently, there were no beds available for young people who were at risk and who required psychiatric placements. I discussed this matter with the Minister of State in the House on a previous occasion. I am pleased that the HSE has some plans to provide beds for people in the 16 to 18 age group, which is crucially important.

The town from which I come, Midleton, County Cork, experienced, until approximately 18 months ago, an alarming incidence of suicide among young males. For a particular period, there was, on average, one suicide a week. In many of these cases, alcohol was a factor. We know that this is a complicated matter and the literature indicates that many reasons are put forward in respect of it. The list of such reasons includes mental disorders, mood disorders, unipolar depression, substance misuse disorders, personality and antisocial disorders, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia. It appears, however, that among adolescents depressive disorders, substance misuse disorders and conduct disorders play a crucial role.

I want to focus on the issue of substance misuse disorders, particularly as they relate to alcohol. Many of the people in the area I represent who committed suicide were, to a high degree, under the influence of alcohol either when or shortly before they took their lives.

I have stated on many occasions that we need to take a long look at our society and the economy we have created. Members are aware that there are housing estates in this country which are nothing more than concrete wildernesses and which have no social centres. Hundreds of houses are being built but places for people to meet and socialise are not being provided. I have continually called for the Government to provide leadership on this issue and to insist that social, community and youth centres and youth workers should be provided. However, the latter is not happening. We appear to be more interested in the economy than in society. We must reverse the position in that regard.

I have been informed by young people that at night they walk up one side of the street and then down the other because that is the only place they can meet their friends. They have nowhere to go and nothing to do. They are merely waiting until they reach 18 years of age in order that they can gain entry to pubs. They informed me that they ask other people to buy alcohol for them and then go out into the fields or down alleyways to consume it. This matter must be addressed. We need to employ youth workers who can reach out to young people who are at risk, but this is not happening.

Bullying is an issue in schools, in the workplace and elsewhere. Both the bully and the person who is being bullied are at risk. We must also give consideration to aging white males. None of us white males can prevent ourselves getting older. Reference was made to the work of Durkheim and his theory of anomie which refers to people's sense of hopelessness and detachment from society. We know that this is relevant to any discussion on suicide.

We must take action in respect of firearms. We need to encourage people who own firearms for recreational purposes to keep them under lock and key and to make them unusable. At times it is not good enough to keep them under lock and key because the keys can be found. I have had personal experience of this. The word must be put out that firearms need to be locked up and disabled in some way.

The report also mentioned the importance of support for those bereaved by suicide. In his response, the Minister of State said that we need to carry out more research. The report recommended a target to reduce the overall suicide rate by 20% by 2016, but the Minister of State said that this cannot be done straight away because the priority is to establish the accuracy of suicide mortality in Ireland. Nonetheless at the beginning of his speech, he outlined the problems that exist and how many deaths by suicide had occurred. He also said that due to the range and interplay of factors that had influenced the suicide rate, a direct cause and effect in the relationship between preventative programmes and a change in the overall population rates is virtually impossible to establish. I hope that this is not some form of cop-out because that would be terrible.

Recommendation No. 15 of the report states that the recommendation of the Inspector of Mental Health Services must be implemented within a five-year period of his or her report, or a resignation of the inspector or the Minister with responsibility for mental health services should be a matter of course. The report effectively states that if the recommendations of the Inspector of Mental Health Services are not implemented, we should see a resignation from the Minister of State. It is that serious. That is why targets are important and must be set. If targets are set, as is the case for accident and emergency departments, all the agencies will move to address those targets.

Is the rate of suicide underestimated in our society? We only know of a certain number, and Members have mentioned single occupancy road deaths at night. We need to have people trained in order that others can approach and talk to them. There is a very interesting project in Midleton which involves the development of peer counselling and it seems to be working. Young people are trained in listening skills, which is not easy. When they are out with their friends they listen to what they say. If they hear someone say that life is not worth living or wonder why he or she gets up in the morning, they will pick this up straight away and ask how the person is feeling. They try to identify whether there is an issue. A young person in a training network who discovers that one of his or her friends may have an issue can help that friend seek assistance. Counselling, psychological and psychiatric services must be made available at the level needed and it is crucial that they are available straightaway.

I compliment the Minister of State on being here today for this debate. I am a bit disappointed that none of his senior Cabinet colleagues has come in to lend the weight of the Cabinet to this issue. I would have been happy if the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste or the Minister for Health and Children came in to address this issue because it is so important.

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