Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Wallace for raising this very important issue. It was a very powerful and sad letter to hear, about Kenneth Rowe's story. He was a young man, aged 32. I accepted that and offer my deepest sympathy to the family. We have to deal with the issue. I do not doubt the Deputy's sincerity and integrity about the issues he raised.

I can assure him that tackling suicide is a priority for the Government. Under the care of my Department, a cross sectoral steering group was established to assist the National Office for Suicide Prevention, NOSP, in implementing Connecting for Life - Ireland’s national strategy to reduce suicide. This is a six year strategy running from 2015 to 2020. The National Office for Suicide Prevention is part of the HSE and was specifically established to co-ordinate suicide prevention efforts around the country and to implement Connecting for Life. To support NOSP, funding was increased from €3.7 million in 2010 to the current level of €12 million. An additional €275 million was provided in 2015 for additional resource officers for suicide prevention and for priority actions under Connecting for Life.

Wexford’s local Connecting for Life plan was launched in January 2016 and is aligned to the national strategy. As suicide affects each person in the community, this local plan is a collaboration by individuals and statutory and non-statutory bodies in the communities throughout Wexford. It has built on work already begun in Wexford since the initial countrywide plan was launched in 2004. The work of NOSP has helped to reduce the number of suicides in Ireland from 495 in 2010 to 392 in 2017. It must be noted that the 2017 figures are provisional and by their nature are subject to change and so should be interpreted with caution at this time.

The NOSP efforts in suicide prevention include training programmes such as safeTALK and ASIST. In addition, the Little Things campaign focuses on measures we can all do to protect our own mental health and to support the people we care about. Children and adolescents who present with suicidal ideation in Wexford, depending on their presentation, may be referred to a number of services, including a school counsellor; teen counselling services in the Ferns Diocesan Youth Service, FYDS; the HSE child and adolescent mental health service, CAMHS, in Wexford; the HSE primary care community psychology services and the HSE self-harm intervention programme, SHIP. In addition, the report of the national task force on youth mental health contains a number of recommendations on youth mental health that have been incorporated into the service plans of lead agencies and priorities for 2018 and 2019. Additionally, the Pathfinder project, which will be the first of its kind, will bring together officials from a number of relevant Departments to form a unit focused on youth mental health. This work will include the implementation of the recommendations of the national task force on youth mental health.

I accept the Deputy's point that nothing will bring back Kenneth Rowe, the lovely young man about whom he spoke, or take away the sadness in his sister's heart. We must develop mental health services that will help young people, in particular young men like Kenneth.

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