Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

737. To ask the Minister for Health his views on the importance of investment in services to those bereaved by suicide, given that they are a special group who face especial difficulties, and who are at present supported, in the most part, by community services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30472/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Bereavement support for families and communities is critically important in the aftermath of a death by suicide. The aim of bereavement support is to support those immediately affected by the death, to allow them to express their grief and to prevent more suicides from happening in the same area.

A range of local and national services provide suicide bereavement support to families and communities. The HSE's National Office for Suicide Prevention provides funding to Console to deliver suicide bereavement support services across the country. The organisation has six regional offices and has a dedicated helpline for individuals bereaved by suicide. The National Office also provides funding to Counselling, Responding, Information & Bereavement Services in HSE South and to Mayo Suicide Liaison Project.

It is important that those providing bereavement support services follow evidence-based practice. In this regard, the National Office for Suicide Prevention, Console and Turas le Cheile developed national quality standards for all levels of suicide bereavement support in Ireland. These standards provide a significant resource for those organisations providing support to individuals at a very vulnerable time in their lives.