Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and welcome Senator MacSharry's Bill. I know from my involvement in drafting that there is significant work involved in drafting any Private Members' Bill and I pay tribute to him and those who worked with him in producing the Bill. It is important to remember that the introduction of a Bill creates debate, and the Senator has certainly put forward the arguments in favour of the Bill.
In dealing with the issue of suicide, it is important that we realise the number of people both directly and indirectly affected. The figures for suicide from 2010 to 2013 and those for the past 12 months show that we have moved from a high of 554 people who died by suicide to 475. Suicide is not just about the people who die; it is also about their families and the difficulties the suicide causes for them. This is not something that lasts just for a week or a year but something that lives with them for the rest of their lives. Suicide touches families for ever. We must always be careful how we deal with this issue, because so many people have been directly or indirectly affected by it.
The Government is dealing with this issue in a comprehensive way. For example, the budget of the National Office for Suicide Prevention has doubled over the past three years, from €4 million per year to €8.8 million. This office is making an important contribution to dealing with the issue. Not only is it concerned with what is being done currently, but it is also planning for what needs to be done in the future. The mental health budget is a substantial budget. It is a huge slice of the health budget because of the huge number of people who receive and require assistance from the health service. This year, 2014, the budget is over €776 million, and over the past three years an additional €90 million has been provided for mental health care. We must continue to work on providing services in this area.
We have more than 1,100 additional people employed in this area and we are also developing and focusing on community health teams. These teams are not just about assisting the person directly affected, but also about assisting families. The whole purpose of the community mental health teams is focused on the community, rather than on admitting people to an appropriate medical facility, because admission does not necessarily mean the problems will be sorted. In the community mental health teams it is important to work not just with the individual but also with the immediate family. It is about ensuring everyone is involved and all of the issues that contribute to the problem are dealt with. This role of the community mental health team is important. I would like to thank the Department, the HSE and all of the medical and back-up support people for their contribution in turning around how we deal with mental health. I hope we continue to expand and develop the service with the result that we reduce the number of people who see suicide as the only solution.
The new strategic framework for suicide prevention and the Reach Out strategy are being developed. When dealing with the area of mental health, we must also concern ourselves with the integration of the services we provide. We must look not just at the people at the front line who are dealing with mental health but also at the backup support services, including social welfare and other areas. We must look at all elements that affect a person's life and ensure co-ordination between all services.
In the context of this Bill, a significant part of the debate relates to the connection with alcohol and to Senator MacSharry's proposals. We should, therefore, refer to the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill. Last October, the Government approved an extensive package of measures to deal with alcohol misuse, including a public health (alcohol) Bill. These measures were agreed in full, along with the recommendations of the steering group report on a national substance misuse strategy. The recommendations in the strategy are grouped under four pillars: supply, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, and research. The aim is to reduce alcohol consumption to the OECD average - 9.1 litres of pure alcohol per capitaper year - by 2020 and to reduce the harm caused by the misuse of alcohol.
In 2013, the average per capitapure alcohol consumption in Ireland for everyone over the age of 15 was 10.64 litres. The package of measures to be implemented will include provision for minimum unit pricing for alcohol products, the regulation of advertising and marketing of alcohol, structural separation of alcohol from other products in mixed trading outlets, health labelling of alcohol products and regulation of sports sponsorship. This is a comprehensive package and it is important it is brought forward, implemented and followed through on at the earliest possible date. This is the type of change we require in order to help all of the people directly affected by the misuse of alcohol and excessive alcohol consumption. There is a connection between these and suicide; Senator MacSharry is right about that.
I believe the Government is dealing with the issues in a proper and structured way. However, we need to fast-track some of the measures in regard to outstanding issues and I support what Senator MacSharry has said in that regard.