Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I echo the sentiments of the Minister of State and welcome some of the comments made by Deputy Browne that in the 1990s, particularly in this House, people were very slow to wake up to this issue. This was the case until recently, going back over a number of elections, as I have mentioned previously. I very much welcome the fact that all sides of the House are driving this issue forward and speaking about it. I also acknowledge with sensitivity those in the House or in the Gallery who may have been affected by these issues. We should be mindful of our comments and how we articulate them here. I understand that everyone has a particular approach to this issue and that everyone wants to see the best outcome possible for it. Fine Gael is committed to that. I welcome the overall budget of €900 million for mental health, with €50 million allocated to the Central Mental Hospital and an overall increase of €74.7 million on the previous budget. The task force set up on youth suicide must also be welcomed. The problem particularly affects young males, among whom suicide continues to this day. That is well worth noting.

A project was organised in my constituency last week by a number of young people, the Drive against Suicide. There were about 120 to 150 cars. It was an excellent initiative by young people who came together and used a medium to communicate to other young people, particularly young males in my constituency. Much of the time politicians find it very difficult to connect with young men. Cars were a medium through which connections were made with these people. Many of them had been affected directly by mishaps in their own families. It was a fantastic initiative and was a way of communicating and connecting with these people. It was quite therapeutic for them and also a way to share their experiences, raise awareness and connect with that demographic. Trying to connect with a certain cohort of young people, particularly young males, is a problem we have within the establishment and within politics. We need to continue to strive to connect and we need to use such media, as well as media such as the creative arts. I have looked at Dr. Pat Bracken's work on this. He has put out a lot of papers and information on this. He states that using these media as opposed to directly communicating with these people is a way to speak to them and get them involved, complemented with a technical approach.

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