Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Kelleher for the opportunity to address this serious issue. Suicide prevention is a priority for the Government. Since 2012, we have increased the funding for the National Office for Suicide Prevention from less than €4 million to more than €12 million.

While there has been a very welcome reduction in national suicide rates, I acknowledge that the rate in County Wexford is higher than we would hope.

In order to reduce the rate, we have put in place a number of support services in the county. Support is available in the Wexford region for people who are feeling suicidal and for families or friends who are concerned. There is a range of services available in the area of suicide prevention, as well as support in the aftermath of a suicide.

Each community health organisation, CHO, has at least one resource officer for suicide prevention based within its area. This includes CHO area 5, of which Wexford is a part. The HSE's suicide crisis assessment nurse service, SCAN, is also available in Wexford. This is an expert mental health nursing service which is available within primary care and which offers an accessible and speedy response to GP requests for assessment of those who are self-harming or in suicide distress. Wexford also has the HSE's self-harm intervention programme, SHIP. This is a free service offering short-term counselling to individuals aged 16 and over who are experiencing suicidal ideation or the impulse to self-harm. Referral is through a person’s GP or other medical professional.

The HSE continues to work not only through its professional staff in mental health services but also through GPs, within counselling services and in the community and voluntary sector, in developing various responses to the incidence of suicide in Wexford. Training programmes are offered to HSE and other relevant front-line staff in Wexford in partnership with voluntary organisations and the National Office for Suicide Prevention. These training programmes include e-suicide TALK, safeTALK, applied suicide intervention skills training, or ASIST, and understanding self-harm.

Connecting for Life is Ireland’s national suicide prevention strategy for the period 2015 to 2020 and the National Office for Suicide Prevention is tasked with its implementation. This strategy sets out a vision of an Ireland where fewer lives are lost through suicide and where communities and individuals are empowered to improve their mental health and well-being. Connecting for Life local plans are developed by communities for communities. The local plans align with the national strategy in terms of vision, with a core component being local implementation and empowerment of communities. The Wexford Connecting for Life local plan was updated and relaunched in 2017.

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