Dáil debates
Thursday, 9 November 2006
Priority Questions
Dormant Accounts Fund.
4:00 pm
Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 5: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs how the recent Government approval of the allocation of almost €1 million from the dormant accounts to fund 20 projects providing suicide prevention supports will be spent; the number of groups that applied for such funding; the number that have received funding; how they are assessed for eligibility; if further funding will be allocated to this area; and which will be the lead Department in the distribution of these funds. [37289/06]
Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Funding to assist suicide prevention initiatives is one of the priority measures approved by the Government for support from the dormant accounts fund in 2006. Details concerning the allocation of almost €1 million from the dormant accounts fund to support 20 suicide prevention projects were announced on 23 October 2006.
The key objective of this funding measure is to provide interventions and supports to strengthen community-based initiatives, particularly those targeting young men under 35 years of age. The intention of the funding is to support locally-based initiatives that deal with suicide prevention. The projects approved are varied and include the provision of early intervention measures for those at risk and also the provision of services for those bereaved through suicide. Details of the projects, including the grants approved and the specific actions proposed, have been provided as an appendix to this reply.
The lead Department for this funding measure is the Department of Health and Children. We engaged an agency to administer the application and assessment process. In total, 125 applications were received in response to a public invitation. In accordance with section 44(1) of the Dormant Accounts Acts 2001 to 2005, all applications were evaluated against criteria which were published. An inter-departmental committee considered the recommendations and approved them.
While the dormant accounts fund comes within my Department's remit, the lead Department in the distribution of these funds is the Department of Health and Children. Accordingly, the funding for the approved projects will be channelled through that Department's Vote. The question of further funding from dormant accounts to support suicide prevention initiatives will be a matter to be considered by the Government in the Minister's annual submission of proposals under section 43 of the Dormant Accounts Acts. Mainstream funding to support suicide prevention initiatives is a matter for the Minister for Health and Children.
| Social and Economic Disadvantage Category | |||
| Funding Measure — Suicide Prevention | |||
| Name of Group | Location | Purpose of Funding | Grant Amount |
| € | |||
| CONSOLE | Drumcondra, Dublin 9 | To provide professional counselling and support service to those bereaved through suicide and those who are suicidal in Clondalkin area. | 77,500.00 |
| Suicide Network Ballymun | Ballymun, Dublin 9 | To carry out suicide intervention skills workshop in Ballymun and to compile a local directory of services around mental health promotion. | 16,300.00 |
| TEAM Educational Theatre Company | Dublin 1 | To explore the issue of suicide within the context of a play which is scheduled to run in secondary schools over 8 weeks in Autumn 2006. | 27,470.00 |
| Roscommon Lions Club | Co. Roscommon | Provision of suicide awareness training and public awareness programme. Production of magazine promoting positive mental health. | 55,600.00 |
| Community Creations | Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal | To promote an awareness and outreach project in the North West with regard to mental health needs. | 50,000.00 |
| Ballymun Arts and Community Resource Centre | Dublin 9 | To fund dance workshops with specialist teachers trained in suicide prevention measures. Workshops to be part of transition year curriculum in local college. | 40,200.00 |
| Awareness Education Office | Dublin 7 | To fund a new youth suicide prevention programme which concentrates on self worth and self-appreciation. | 46,000.00 |
| Limerick Mental Health Association | Co. Limerick | To renovate and refurbish a premises in Limerick city as a permanent base for Le Chéile which provides services for those with coping difficulties. | 50,000.00 |
| S.T.E.E.R Ireland | Co. Donegal | To develop a Recovery Guide programme which provides emotional, psychological and technical support to those at risk and bereaved families. | 73,700.00 |
| Finn Valley Alliance for Positive Mental Health | Co. Donegal | To recruit a co-ordinator to work with students and teachers locally on suicide prevention and awareness issues. | 84,264.00 |
| Rehabcare | Dublin 4 | To deliver lifeskills/life coaching programme with a specific focus on suicide prevention. | 73,040.00 |
| Families of Beara Support Group | Co. Cork | To develop a counselling room in Adrigole for counselling and support services. | 55,540.00 |
| Dundalk Counselling Centre | Co. Louth | To provide a range of counselling services in relation to suicide prevention including one-to-one counselling sessions with trained staff. | 34,320.00 |
| Blue Drum — The Arts Specialist Support Agency | Dublin 17 | To work creatively with 6 community groups in Dublin city to explore suicidal behaviour among clients and the wider community. | 56,945.00 |
| Kerry Adolescent Counselling Service | Co. Kerry | To implement a comprehensive Suicide Prevention Programme to second year students in the more remote areas of Co. Kerry. | 73,290.00 |
| Forever Fathers | Co. Donegal | To produce a series of psychodrama workshops to teach suicide intervention skills to young men. | 13,000.00 |
| Living Life Voluntary Counselling Centre Ltd | Co. Wicklow | Recruitment of a part-time suicide counsellor servicing centres in Bray, Dún Laoghaire and Arklow. | 49,500.00 |
| County Wexford Partnership | Co. Wexford | To pilot a professional stress helpline for Co. Wexford which will act as an early intervention measure. | 45,000.00 |
| National Learning Network | Co. Cork | To facilitate the delivery of the Peer Support Education Programme to young people in the Cork/Kerry region. | 37,620.00 |
| Smashing Times Theatre Company | Dublin 7 | To promote positive mental health and to raise suicide awareness through participative drama workshops and professional theatre performance. | 40,600.00 |
| Total Recommended Allocation | 999,889.00 |
Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. This question is in response to the debate we had in late October. In that debate, the Minister of State said that 11,000 young people cause themselves deliberate self-harm every year and that Ireland has the fifth highest suicide rate in the EU for 15 to 24 year olds. The rate is even higher for men in their 20s and 30s, with men under 35 accounting for approximately 40% of suicides. I welcome the fact that the funding was given to groups, but there were 125 applications for funding.
Does the Minister of State accept that more funding is needed in this area? How important is this issue? We had cross-party support on it. Does he accept that we are doing enough and that the figures I read out are frightening? He stated that funding was a matter for the Government, but is the role of community involvement not as important?
There is a voluntary group in my own area called Teenline, which covers all of Ireland. It was set up in July and it received 1,000 phone calls between then and October, covering everything from suicidal feelings to attempted suicide, relationship bereavement, loneliness, violent assault, sexual assault and so on. The difficulty is that this is just one group and it has received no funding. The group operates on Friday and Saturday for a couple of hours. I have spoken to its volunteers and they told me that they receive no funding whatsoever. The group did not apply for funding as it was established in 2003 but only registered in 2005 and it did not wish to operate out of somebody's house. It is one of those groups that has fallen through the gaps. The group has no register, so if somebody rings in from Kerry, the group cannot refer the person to any service in that county.
This group is a first for Ireland and there is no training provided, so it must buy in services from abroad. I am aware that the lead Department is the Department of Health and Children, but this is a community initiative so I want the Minister of State with responsibility for community affairs to take this on board. Suicide is a growing problem and the community response can help. Can the Minister of State look at the possibility of helping these groups in the future?
Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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A cross-departmental committee was set up this year on the dormant accounts fund and this was one of the projects mentioned. We have €60 million to spend this year, of which €24 million was spent on social and economic disadvantage. The next programme will probably cost €30 million and if the Deputy recommends it and we get good feedback, we will consider the project next year. We were delivering two years' worth of funding this time.
I accept that only 20 applications received money out of 125 applications. We did not decide the assessment criteria as we hired an outside agency, Pobal, which made recommendations based on its criteria. We did not change the recommendations as they came in, but they liaised with the National Office of Suicide Prevention. I accept that many of the groups that received money seemed to be fairly professional and that Pobal went for those applications rather than smaller community applications.
The National Office of Suicide Prevention was set up in the last year and it received €1.2 million in funding for its own work. The Department of Health and Children spends about €800 million on mental health per annum. This funding was put forward as a suggestion to help community groups and I am sure it will be considered again next year. The overall funding may be smaller, but that depends on the response and the reaction to what we have done.