Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Muireann Cullen of the Nutrition and Health Foundation this morning and Mrs. Catherine Bent, a representative from the Nutrition and Health Foundation stakeholders. They pointed out that the national task force on obesity, chaired by the eminent Mr. John Treacy, made 93 recommendations but these are not being taken seriously or implemented. I ask the Minister of State to give an update on the position in that regard in her response to the House. It was frightening to hear that in 2001, 57% of adults in Ireland were overweight but by 2007 the figure had risen to 64%.

Finland, as Members know, has a reputation for heavy drinking and ill health. The Finnish Government led a ten year campaign to improve the health of the Finnish people and was very successful in this regard. Our own Government was successful in introducing innovative legislation banning smoking in the workplace and public places. This has led to a cultural change in attitudes to smoking. I took up smoking when I was 18 years old and I must say I enjoyed every cigarette I ever had but the national awareness campaign of the 1980s encouraged me to give up. Unfortunately, I put on four stone when I gave up smoking. However, having spoken to the representatives from the Nutrition and Health Foundation today, perhaps the penny will drop and I will become more physically active.

As the Minister of State has said, it is frightening to think that every second person one meets in Ireland is overweight. Dr. Cullen pointed out that nutrition is not on the curriculum for trainee doctors, which is alarming. When patients visit their doctors, they should be given nutritional advice. As we all know, unhealthy eating habits start early in life, with young people eating too much.

I urge the Minister of State to champion the cause of a healthier and fitter Ireland. However, it is important that we do not separate physical and mental health because they go hand in hand. More emphasis is placed on physical health than mental health at present because of the stigma attached to mental illness. In that context, Dr. Cullen also pointed out that trainee general practitioners do not study mental health as part of their course at university.

I spent from September 2007 to July of this year studying suicide. During that time, I spent three months writing a paper on suicide in Ireland. There are more suicides in Ireland every year than deaths by road accident. Approximately 500 people die by suicide every year. Four times more Irish men die by suicide than Irish women. Our national average on suicide in comparison to other EU countries is relatively good — we are in seventh place — but we have the second highest youth suicide rate in the EU. While I know there is a Minister of State with special responsibility for mental health, the Minister of State with responsibility for health promotion should focus on the promotion of mental and physical health.

Figures from the National Suicide Research Foundation in Cork indicate that approximately 60,000 Irish people self-harm every year. There are 11,500 self-harm presentations to accident and emergency departments, representing 8,500 individuals, as many are repeat presentations. Self-harming is a predictor of future suicide which shows that our heads are in the sand regarding the extent of the problem. We are afraid to face up to the fact that we have a serious suicidal problem in Ireland. That problem cannot be solved by simply placing advertisements in the media about mental health. We must educate young people at school about mental health.

A survey carried out by the EU in 39 secondary schools in Cork and Kerry found that 9.1% of teenagers said they had a constant history of self-harming, which is frightening. Such teenagers are in a lonely position. They are not talking about self-harm but are doing it privately. They are in purgatory because they cannot face up to their mental health problems. Discussions about the importance of physical health are broadcast widely but mental health is not seriously on the radar.

When people turn up at accident and emergency departments in other countries having self-harmed, they must go through a formal process of evaluation. They are asked about their own history, their family history and their current life situation. They are also given a formal follow-up, in terms of psychiatric help, once discharged. The system in Ireland is very ad hoc. Every accident and emergency department should have a uniform procedure for recording self-harm presentations and for ensuring that patients receive appropriate psychiatric treatment.

Approximately 60,000 people self-harm every year but only 8,500 present at accident and emergency departments. That means more than 50,000 people are not making contact with our health services and are suffering in silence because of the stigma attached to depression, mental illness and suicide. In 30 years' time we will look back and remark at how savage and barbaric we were, that we stuck our heads in the sand and ignored this problem.

People are afraid to say they suffer from depression because they feel they will be diminished in other people's eyes. The well-known author J. K. Rowling announced last year that she had felt suicidal because of personal circumstances. That announcement was very important and positive. It was pointed out to me by a Dáil Deputy that when politicians are canvassing they are often asked by constituents about the possibility of getting treatment for family members who have cancer or other physical illness. However, they are not asked about treatment for family members with mental illnesses. Mental illness is not becoming a political issue because people are ashamed to talk about it to politicians.

We must drive forward this issue. I make a total of 31 recommendations in my paper on suicide. These can be boiled down to three actions to effectively reduce the level of suicide. These are a reduction in alcohol consumption, training GPs to identify depression and restricting access to lethal means. People have told me their children died from suicide and their GPs had told them to pull themselves together. Not only do GPs not get training on nutrition, they do not get adequate training on identifying and treating mental illness.

I accept that we have a serious obesity problem. However, as a young female politician the Minister of State can influence the attitude to addressing suicide in schools and issues such as bullying. International research shows that 20% of those who die by suicide have been bullied. Bullying happens in schools, workplaces and in Leinster House. I was bullied by somebody yesterday. I told my colleagues in my office what was said to me and they asked whether there was somewhere I could go to report it. People have no right to intimidate or try to diminish other people. How dare they?

Irish people, society, schools and business need to know what are human rights and not only hear the words. Human rights involves not interfering with or intimidating people or diminishing others. I am not addressing fully this serious issue of young people being bullied in schools. I am discussing the physical and mental health of young people. We must begin by discussing nutrition with young people in schools. We all know it is too late afterwards. I have been a friend of the Minister of State since 1993 and wish her the best of luck in her role. She has a tremendous opportunity to place the issue of physical and mental health on the political radar.