Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I look forward to receiving those figures, but by the end of last year only 62 of those 414 staff positions had been filled, which is a huge gap. The Taoiseach spoke earlier about the need for leaders to deliver. This issue is above party politics. I knew of the work of Deputy Neville before I came into the Dáil, when I was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly and worked on this issue. It is a national crisis, and what do we do about a national crisis? We put in place structures and strategies to reduce the crisis. That is why I am advocating the establishment of an authority similar to the RSA. I am not talking about a quango or another tier of bureaucracy but an agency to focus on and educate people, to give information to help them to know the signs and be able to help, and to educate people to talk to someone. This is crucial to dealing with this issue. I am sure the Taoiseach will agree with me when I applaud those in the community and voluntary sector and in charitable organisations, as well as those in the very slimmed-down mental health service who work on this issue. Yesterday 4,000 people took part in a cycle against suicide. All of this work needs back-up. People want to resolve this issue but it needs to be backed up by resources and Government action. The Taoiseach is not sure of the figures and that is fair enough. I am not making a point about that, but can he give a firm commitment on when these 414 mental health staff will be in place? Does he agree that because suicide knows no borders, we need a joined-up, all-island approach to this issue?

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