Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I certainly will go back to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, on those very important points. I absolutely agree we need more beds. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is very much aware of that. It is something the Government is looking at and the Minister definitely will work on it.

There is a challenge in dealing with suicide in extremely complex cases. We have seen cases where a single event is the factor that leads someone to take his or her own life. There are huge issues there. We need to get supports in place for families, individuals and communities. An action the Minister of State is working on is the new suicide reduction strategy. It is being drafted and will include information on beds and so on. Implementation of this new strategy will be developed in quarter 1 of 2026. I will convey the Deputy's concerns about the need for more beds and I thank him for highlighting it.

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