Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The claim that Ireland has the highest suicide rate of child suicide for girls in the European Union was made in a report by the National Women’s Council of Ireland, which was launched on 6 November last.

On the day the report was launched, officials in my Department contacted the National Office for Suicide Prevention in light of the associated media coverage. The NOSP confirmed the data is incorrect and that it relates to outdated information from WHO European comparison data on suicide rates. The data used is based on 3-year averages for the years 2009 to 2011.

The most recent comparisons between Ireland and the EU, obtained from Eurostat – the European Commission databank, are from 2015. That year Ireland was ranked as 10th lowest out of 33 countries for both men and women. Regrettably, this statistic was not reflected in the 15-19 age bracket, as Ireland ranked 7th highest among our European counterparts.

Tackling suicide is a priority for the Government. For this reason, a Cross Sectoral Steering Group was established to implement Connecting for Life - Ireland’s National Strategy to Reduce Suicide, which runs from 2015 to 2020. The National Office for Suicide Prevention is part of the HSE office, within the Mental Health Division, and was specifically established to coordinate suicide prevention efforts around the country and to implement Connecting for Life. To support NOSP, funding increased from €3.7 million in 2010 to the current level of €12 million. An additional €2.75m was provided in 2015 for additional Resource Officers for Suicide Prevention and for priority actions under Connecting for Life.

The work of NOSP has helped to reduce the number of suicides in Ireland from 495 in 2010 to 392 in 2017. It must be noted that the 2017 figures are provisional and by their nature are subject to change, so should be interpreted with caution at this time.

NOSP efforts in suicide prevention include training programmes such as safeTALK and ASSIST. In addition, the Little Things campaign focuses on measures we can all do to protect our own mental health, and to support the people we care about.

The Deputy can rest assured that I, in conjunction with the Department of Health and the HSE, will continue to enhance policies and services to minimise the incidence of suicide in Ireland.