Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That the Minister agrees with me on the points I raised is welcome. I would also welcome any additional resources the Government were to invest, if that is the correct word, or spend in the field of suicide prevention. Last month, the 3Ts charity - Turn The Tide on Suicide - published a report entitled, Suicide in Ireland 2003-2008, which made for grim reading. Every Deputy should take the time to read this document, which revealed the startling fact that one child under 18 years dies by suicide every 18 days. Moreover, the State has the fourth highest youth suicide rate in Europe and the figure is increasing. Despite this, the appropriate services do not appear to be available when required, including in the case to which I referred.

The Minister agreed with me that the current position is unacceptable. Given that the current suicide strategy concludes in 2014, will the Minister ask his colleague, the Minister for Health, to accelerate the provision of a new strategy to ensure there is no gap in service provision or strategy in the coming years?

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