Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I recognise the work she has done to develop the National Office for Suicide Prevention over the past two years. The office's budget has doubled from €4.1 million in 2012 to €8.1 million in 2013. Our ambition is to see the level of funding increase to €10 million. I am sure we are on the way to doing that. The Minister of State referred to those who do not attend accident and emergency departments after attempting suicide or self-harming. Research conducted in the UK by Professor Keith Hawton, who is a great friend of the Irish Association of Suicidology, shows that for every one person who presents at an accident and emergency department in these circumstances, eight people do not present. They might go to their general practitioner, or they might not inform anybody of what has happened because of the stigma surrounding these matters. Dr. Ella Arensman, the director of research at the National Suicide Research Foundation, has confirmed that international research corroborates Professor Hawton's figure. If international research by such distinguished scholars and suicidologists is indicating that between 60,000 and 80,000 people deliberately self-harm in Ireland every year, it is clear that we have a serious problem in this regard. I would like the Minister of State to respond to some of the recommendations that have been made by the National Suicide Research Foundation on foot of its work in this area. The foundation recommends that starting at pre-adolescent age, national strategies should be intensified to increase awareness of the risks involved in the use and misuse of alcohol. It also recommends that we should escalate our efforts to reduce access to alcohol and arrange active consultation and collaboration between mental health services and addiction treatment services in the best interests of patients who present with dual diagnoses, such as psychiatric disorder and alcohol abuse. Finally, it recommends that assessment of alcohol misuse and abuse should be a structural part of the work that is done when the risk of repeated self-harm and suicide attempts is being determined.

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