Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not dispute what the Taoiseach said. Headstrong; Jigsaw which is a great programme; the personal independence payment, PIP; Save Our Sons and Daughters, SOSAD; and Circle of Hope are all great initiatives. Advocates such as Conor Cusack, the Rubberbandits and Bressie have engaged in a lot of consciousness-raising, particularly of stigma. However, it is not enough because they cannot do it alone. A vital part of dealing with the risk of suicide is having adequate services in place throughout the day, seven days a week. A 24/7 intervention service is possible, but the Government needs to make it a priority. If it does not do so, it will not happen. I have been working on this issue for about 25 years, North and South. Many of those who will take their own lives will never be in touch with the mental health service. Given the absence of services, that is hardly surprising. There is almost - I use the term advisedly - a copycat element to suicides in some parishes and communities. My point to the Taoiseach and everybody else is that we must recognise this as a national emergency and put in place measures to tackle it. We need action and an emergency task force to be set up across the State which would work in co-operation with colleagues in the North and local communities. I, therefore, ask the Taoiseach to commit to dealing with this as an emergency and act on it as he would in any other emergency.

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