Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 252: To ask the Minister for Health the number of staff who are employed in the Health Service Executive north-east area to deal with issues of suicide and self-harm; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29236/11]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 253: To ask the Minister for Health his strategy for dealing with the issues of suicide and self-harm in the Health Service Executive north-east region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29237/11]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 254: To ask the Minister for Health the statistics he has for the incidence of suicide or self-harm in the Health Service Executive north-east region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29238/11]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 252 to 254, inclusive, together.

My Department has requested information from the HSE in relation to the number of staff that are employed in the Health Service Executive North East area to deal with issues of suicide and self harm and I will be in contact with the Deputy on its receipt.

Dealing with the current high levels of suicide and deliberate self harm is a priority for this Government. Reach Out - the National Strategy for Action on Suicide Prevention (2005 - 2014) provides a policy framework for suicide prevention activities in Ireland. It calls for a multi-sectoral approach to the prevention of suicidal behaviour involving health, education, community, voluntary and private sector agencies. The total funding available nationally through the HSE for suicide prevention is about €9 million of which €4.1 million is available to the National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP) and approximately €5 million is available regionally to fund Resource Officers for Suicide Prevention, Self-Harm Liaison Nurses in Hospital Emergency Departments and local suicide prevention initiatives including crisis awareness groups.

This Government has prioritised the reform of the mental health service in line with A Vision for Change and Reach Out. This commitment was clearly shown in the Programme for Government which provides that €35 million will be ring-fenced annually from within the overall health budget to develop community mental health services, ensure early access to more appropriate services for adults and children and to implement Reach Out . This is currently being considered as part of the Estimates process for 2012 and future years.

Provisional figures published by the Central Statistics Office show that there were 55 deaths by suicide in Counties Cavan, Meath, Louth and Monaghan in 2009 and 46 in 2010. There were 19 deaths by suicide in Fingal in 2009 and 18 in 2010. Data on Self-Harm presentations to Emergency Departments is compiled and published on an annual basis by the National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF). The number of presentations of deliberate self-harm to Emergency Departments in the North East was 2,991 in 2009 and 2,800 in 2010.