Camillus Glynn (Fianna Fail)

I support the call for a debate on mental health, if time permits. The issue of suicide would invariably take a central part in that debate. It is interesting to note the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, of which I am a member, compiled a report on the high incidence of suicide. I was a member of the sub-committee that worked on the report. Some startling findings emerged from the report, among them, that young males are seven times more at risk of committing suicide and parasuicide than young females of the same age category. Alcohol has a pivotal role to play in suicide incidence.

Suicide is ravaging the country. My local parish, which is in a rural area, has been particularly badly hit. There are not many families in the country who have escaped being touched by the cold fingers of suicide. I would welcome such a debate.