Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to hear that. I again urge the Deputy to engage with the Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, on the issue.

As outlined previously, the Defence Forces are fully alert in respect of suicide awareness and prevention, issues of depression and other mental health issues among their personnel. As already mentioned, I am not in a position to comment on the number of deaths as a result of suicide within the Defence Forces, as this information is not recorded by the military authorities. All sudden deaths must be reported to the relevant coroner’s office. It is then a matter for the coroner to decide whether a post mortem should be conducted and to determine the cause of death.

I reiterate that a range of mental health supports is available to personnel. The Department of Defence is continuing in its efforts to secure a dedicated Defence Forces psychiatrist and has implemented a number of interim measures until such time as this process has been concluded, including authorisation for the referral of cases to local external private psychiatrists or outpatient treatment where deemed appropriate. However, it should be noted that there is a nationwide shortage of trained psychiatrists as evidenced by the number of HSE vacancies. I am informed that the NHS in Britain has similar difficulties and it has been suggested that there is a worldwide shortage of consultant psychiatrists. The difficulty with recruitment is, therefore, not unique to the Defence Forces, but it is an issue they take seriously.

While the Minister is satisfied that the range of mental health services provided to the Defence Forces, including access to psychiatry, psychology and counselling services, is comprehensive, I assure the Deputy that they are kept under constant review. I hope that in this day and age, people feel it is open to them to avail of these services and that they do not feel they cannot be seen to avail of them. I think we have moved on in that regard and thankfully we have a much more open conversation in this space, and rightly so. If there are any doubts in that regard, the Deputy should discuss it with the Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, because he would not be happy if that were the case.

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