Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill on gender recognition and I acknowledge that some flaws exist, but the provision on age could be re-examined. Yesterday I raised the issue of the orders of nuns who are not paying up. I then discovered that they had €1.5 billion in assets and I was even more incensed.

Brendan Nix, the coroner for Limerick, spoke on "Morning Ireland" this morning. In his opinion the verdict of suicide should be officially recorded at inquests as this is not the current practice. The pathological evidence of cause of death is recorded. In his view this serves no purpose and actually conceals the real suicide figures. The House has debated the issue of suicide but we need to do more than talk about it. We need to reach out to people who are suffering. Services are in place but information on these services should be available to those who are suffering. Brendan Nix is also a senior counsel. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister if the practice in inquests could be changed. More than 500 people died from suicide last year and the figure is increasing.

We must do something about it other than talk about it in the House. If we do not have real statistics, we will not know where we are going or where we have come from, but we know we have to do something. Many issues have been raised. Young people, in particular, are suffering. We should publicise the services available more and ensure we can reach out.

MABS was mentioned in the context of people in trouble with debt and I support what has been said. An official of MABS said on radio this morning that anybody with an emergency would skip the queue. People should not fear that they cannot go to MABS, as they will be seen straightaway in an emergency. The official made this point loud and clear because he did not want people to be scared that they would have to wait three months if they had a real problem. A MABS official is always at the end of the telephone. I want to make this clear also.