Peter Roche (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I welcome this discussion. I commend the Minister of State on bringing this to the House. It is astonishing when you read that males represented 72% of premature deaths, which is most stark. In 2022, 79% of all deaths by suicide were among males and young men suffering from depression are diagnosed at half the rate of women, which is another stark figure. It is fair to say that men's health is a national issue and demands a co-ordinated, compassionate and courageous response. One of the things I have often said is that we can have all the conversations we like here today about men's health, remaining positive and all the things that go with it.

For those people who are harbouring thoughts of isolation, depression or suicidal ideation or all of these things, though, I encourage them to seek help by telling a trusted friend. That might be the person's wife, daughter or next-door neighbour and then, more importantly, for that trusted friend to know exactly how to respond - not to judge them, not to add to their woes, but to be prepared to offer support, help, direction and guidance. That is all any of us can do. If I had a euro for every time I had that conversation with people who felt that maybe I would understand, I would be able to go and have a good drink for myself. They think and feel that it is perfectly okay to speak to someone who has a knowledge perhaps of what it is like to be devastated as a consequence of an early death, be that suicide or otherwise. This is the big plea I am making today. Let us do more and let us not be afraid to ask somebody if they are in trouble emotionally. They may be very quick to say that they are and then they are on the first steps to recovery. I cannot say that often enough or loudly enough. It is a fact. For those people sitting at home today listening to all the contributions and hearing all the statistics, I believe that is what we should be aiming towards. I urge the Minister of State to continue the good work and let us have more conversation on this.

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