Camillus Glynn (Fianna Fail)

Suicide is a subject that until recently people did not like to confront. Society in general was in a state of denial, believing that if we ignored the subject it would go away. It has not gone away and is as large as life. Unfortunately in these circumstances "life" is the operative word, as it is snuffed out by a wilful action. At long last, however, society recognises we have a serious problem. Certain groups and services, especially the psychiatric services, say we have known for some time that suicide is a major problem. Regrettably, as Senator Browne pointed out, there is a stigma attached. It is not as bad as it was but we still have some distance to get rid of that stigma. It is important that people who might be listening today or reading a report pertaining to this session in Seanad Éireann realise that psychiatry, which is the area of medicine and nursing that deals with suicide, attempted suicide, depression and all the conditions that contribute to suicide, is not taken seriously enough. Decisions were taken some years ago by a number of Governments that resulted in a serious drop in the number of psychiatric nurses being trained, and in people training in medical psychiatry. They are contributing factors.