Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to raise the issue but, with all due respect to the Minister of State, I am very surprised the Minister for Health and Children or the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Devins, are not present. However, I can understand this in the context of their disinterest towards the issue I am raising. More than 500 people die by suicide annually. In 2005, Reach Out, the national strategy for action on suicide prevention, was published and it made more than 90 recommendations which have been practically ignored. The National Office for Suicide Prevention, NOSP, was established but it only has a budget of €3.5 million annually, which means it can continue with its current work but it cannot develop its service during 2008.

I ask the Minister of State not to say €8 million is being spent on suicide prevention. I refer only to the investment on the strategy for suicide prevention published in 2005. In 1998 the national task force on suicide reported with recommendations and approximately £4 million was spent on that but the Government has rowed back on this as well. One of the key recommendations of that report was the appointment of suicide resource officers but their budget has been cut back. Suicide resource officers were available in 11 areas but three of them are not being retained and, therefore, the number available has reduced to eight.

Last year, the budget for the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, ASIST, programme for volunteers in suicide prevention was also reduced. The Minister of State, Deputy Devins, cancelled eight training courses under the programme because he would not pay for hotel accommodation. The Government, therefore, reduced the funding for those who wanted to be involved in suicide prevention and who were anxious to obtain intervention skills in suicide prevention. ASIST funding will reduce further this year because the co-ordinators of the two-day courses provided under the programme are the suicide resource officers. However, three of them are not being reappointed in key areas because of the cutbacks and the Government's decision.

The Taoiseach in 2005 stated:

At Government level, a task force will be established with representatives of relevant Government Departments to advise on and provide support in overcoming any barriers encountered in implementing the strategy. Additional funding allocations will be made available for the coming years to support the strategy and to complement local and national efforts.

However, the Government is rowing back on this commitment. I compliment the suicide prevention office on the work it is trying to do but it is being frustrated by a lack of funding.

A sum of €3.5 million is allocated to the NOSP while last year there were 500 deaths by suicide. The Road Safety Authority receives an inadequate allocation of €44.3 million and 338 road fatalities occurred last year. Why the difference in the Government's approach to the prevention of suicide and road safety, which is given 15 times the allocation? Why does the Government ignore the issue of suicide?

See this speech in context