Terry Brennan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Connecting for Life initiative, Ireland's new national strategy for suicide prevention for the next five years, launched recently by An Taoiseach. Connecting for Life sets out a vision of an Ireland in which fewer lives are lost through suicide and in which communities and individuals are empowered to improve their mental health and well-being. This initiative is an ambitious strategy that sets a target to reduce suicide and self-harm by 10% over the next five years. There is no one-size-fits-all in mental health, and the range of services reflects this. As part of the suicide strategy, we need to connect with ourselves, our families, our communities and the services that are on offer. I seek a debate with the Minister for Health on these proposals and on how we can play our part individually in ensuring the success of the national strategy in reducing the number of people, young and old, taking their own lives.