Mary White (Fianna Fail)

There are three proven areas that can be addressed to lower the rate of suicide and deliberate self-harm and one of these is alcohol consumption. People should be encouraged not to drink when they feel depressed. It is necessary that general practitioners be trained to identify depression when patients present with it. Mothers of children who hung themselves told me doctors had told them there was nothing wrong with their children.

My third point is very serious. Legislation was introduced in the United Kingdom approximately four years ago to reduce the size of packets of paracetamol, such that one could no longer buy a packet containing 24 tablets. Within one year, academic analysis showed there was a reduction in suicides as a result of overdosing on paracetamol and codeine, in addition to a drop in the number of deaths from liver failure as a result of taking paracetamol.

I have outlined three proven ways in which the rates of suicide and self-harm can be reduced. This is why the Intoxicating Liquor Bill is so critical. It is a good Bill but I agree with my colleagues on the other side of the House that it is wrong to rush it at this stage.