Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his work in this area. I fully agree with the final point the Deputy made about the need to include excessive alcohol consumption and abuse of alcohol in our consideration of the definition of self-harm. When people who have engaged in self-harm present themselves at accident and emergency departments or general practitioners' surgeries, or contact the health services in some other way, we should take that as an early warning and ensure not only that they are referred to the appropriate services but also that their cases are followed up. That is why, in conjunction with the National Office for Suicide Prevention, we are putting specifically trained nurses into our accident and emergency departments. In the immediate aftermath of incidents of self-harm, the people in question might be traumatised because of the harm they have inflicted on themselves or might be quite drunk and therefore incapable of responding. The following morning, when they have been stabilised, these specially trained nurses will bring them through a follow-on process to ensure they keep the appointments that are made for them with more appropriate services.

I will take on board everything the Deputy has said. Everyone in the country is determined to come to grips with this problem, and any input is very welcome. I thank the Deputy.

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