Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that today is World Mental Health Day. It is a major issue here, particularly among young people. I concur with other Senators in their call to make resources available to deal with the issue. Other Senators have spoken about road deaths, penalty points and so forth. It is an issue but I acknowledge the effort that has been made by the past number of Governments to reduce the number of road deaths. There has been a dramatic reduction in the number of road deaths in recent years. We need to adopt the same approach to suicide. First, we need a dedicated, focused all-party effort to increase the awareness level of suicide and mental health issues. Second, we need to ensure that people realise that help exists and that there are people they can talk to.

I salute the many organisations throughout the country making valiant efforts to raise awareness of suicide and mental health issues, particularly among young people. The Seanad has a role to play in creating future policy and initiatives that will help reduce suicide rates. The Seanad has held very successful public consultations and there is scope to do something in the area of mental health. I agree with the proposals made by my colleague, Senator Mullins, that we have a dedicated session on mental health in the near future and perhaps out of this we can chart what the Seanad can do practically to solve the problem.