Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I join with others in seeking a debate on suicide. Last year the number of people who died by suicide was 525, which is effectively the population of a sizeable village. As I said, if this was happening in Syria or another country, we would be sending in UN troops.

The piecemeal approach to suicide in the past number of years is inexcusable. The number of suicides increased last year but spending on suicide prevention was just €9 million compared with the €35 million budget of the Road Safety Authority, which with the appropriate funding has succeeded in reducing the number of deaths on the road from a similar level to just below 200 last year. This shows that Governments have failed consistently to address the issue of suicide. As Senator O'Keeffe rightly said, we need not just debate but joined-up thinking, and appropriate resourcing for a single agency. A sum of €35 million is supposed to have been ringfenced for mental health in 2012, but I would like to see that money specifically dedicated to suicide prevention.

Suicide is a silent crisis. Last year 525 people, the majority of whom were men but some women and many young people, were wiped out by suicide. We must deal with it.

I understand from Senator Darragh O'Brien that the behaviour during last night's debate was unbecoming. Will the Leader clarify the procedures to be followed when legislation is brought forward? Is it the norm, as the Government side suggested, that the director of the national cancer control programme would draft, proof and approve particular responses?