John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The House might be aware that I am rapporteur for the Joint Committee on Health and Children on the issue of suicide prevention. For the last year I have been undertaking a series of public consultation meetings with members of the general public who have been affected by or are interested in the issue of suicide. Tomorrow morning I will be submitting a discussion paper to the joint committee and a further round of consultations will include discussions with the National Suicide Research Foundation, the Central Statistics Office, the Coroners Society of Ireland and some of the voluntary organisations working in the area of suicide prevention.

I intend to circulate a copy of the paper to Members because I value their opinions. However, I will hold off in doing so until I receive the responses of the voluntary organisations at tomorrow's meeting. Will the Leader consider arranging a debate in the next few weeks on suicide prevention in the light of this paper? Every Member has a keen interest in the topic and I hope the Leader can organise at least a two hour debate on it in the coming weeks.