Has the Government addressed the crisis of despair and hopelessness particularly among young people? The average number of suicides is now running at approximately 450, which is in excess of the number of people killed by road accident. The victims are, by a ratio of four to one, young males and 85% to 90% of those who commit suicide suffer at some stage from mental illness.

Professor Anthony Clare stated some time ago that the mentally ill are the most stigmatised group in our society, the lepers of today. Is the Tánaiste aware that last year more than 10,000 people, mostly young persons, presented at accident and emergency units having attempted suicide? This figure does not include those who did not present or who presented at general practitioners. Does this not indicate a colossal failure of Government to address a fundamental crisis of despair and hopelessness affecting the future generation?

What has the Government done about suicide? What programmes are in place to deal with it, in view of the fact that with regard to Australia, for instance, it is now internationally accepted that suicide rates have dropped by 30% as a result of the implementation of government programmes? Will the Tánaiste comment, on behalf of the Government, on what action is being taken and the reason for the colossal neglect of what Amnesty International described as the neglected quarter?

We all share Deputy Kenny's views on the level of suicide. Suicide among young males is increasing at a frightening rate and I suppose the saddest thing of all is that many young people who take their own lives do so without ever seeking assistance from experts who may be in a position to help them.

Increased resources are being put into the mental health area, whether in the school psychological service, the five new acute centres the Government has opened in the mental health area since 1997, or the additional funding of €1 million by way of revenue increases and €1 million by way of capital increases for the Central Mental Hospital. This in itself is not enough and we have also established the mental health policy review group but review groups and resources can only go so far.

The level of suicide among young people requires intervention in families and identification, probably through the school system. It also requires us, as a society, to be more open in order that young people and adults — suicide does not only affect young people and suicide incidence is high across population thresholds — who feel vulnerable are able to come forward and seek the assistance they require.

Various State services are available to people, whether directly or in the voluntary sector. Greater awareness is needed, perhaps through more open debate, something which has, thankfully, occurred in recent years. For many years, the issue of suicide was covered over. People did not want to talk about it or admit to it, and families and vulnerable people across all age groups were reluctant to come forward and seek assistance. This is changing, however slowly, and there is an onus on all of us in politics, particularly those of us in Government, to ensure that crisis facilities are available that the people in question will use and that will, I hope, dramatically reduce the level of suicide.

Nothing leaves a family more saddened than suicide. It leaves a terrible mark on families who for many years feel guilty, vulnerable and responsible when they should not. Society generally must be more open and responsive to the needs of vulnerable people in this category.

I share the views expressed by Deputy Kenny. As public representatives, we have become aware of the increasing incidence of suicide, which is an issue I hardly heard about at the start of my political career. One of the sad features of the past 20 years has been the huge increase in suicide among young people, as the Deputy stated, and among the population generally.

While I accept the genuineness of the Tánaiste's feelings on this issue, the point is that she and the Government are in a position to do something about it. Just 7% of the health budget is spent on mental health. The targets set out in the 1984 mental health programme have still not been reached. There is no community health service of any real benefit offering the attention and assistance to which the Tánaiste refers.

The report of the national task force on suicide presented to the Minister for Health and Children in 1998 contained 86 recommendations. Very few of them have been implemented and those which have been implemented have been of minimal cost, yet at the same time we hear Ministers speak of expenditure of millions and billions on other projects.

Fundamental to our society is that every school, town, village, parish and street now has its own tale of trauma, tragedy and grief. I stood recently in a kitchen in a western county trying to absorb the confusion of parents whose 22 year old son hanged himself.

The Tánaiste is right that these matters were swept under the carpet for too long but we have the means to deal with them in the report of the national task force on suicide. She and the Government are in a position to do something. Will she now confirm that the Government will re-prioritise suicide, the 7% of health expenditure currently allocated to mental health will be significantly increased and the recommendations of the national task force on suicide will be implemented as a matter of urgency — not by setting up another strategy committee but by direct Government action?

While I acknowledge Deputy Kenny's concern in this area, it would be wrong to assume that resources alone could prevent suicide. We all must acknowledge that. That is not to say we cannot and should not do more and that we cannot make available the kind of expertise, assistance and guidance vulnerable people need which might prevent incidents of suicide and the loss suffered by the individuals involved and their devastated families.

As the Deputy will be aware, substantial increases in expenditure on health have been made in recent years. We now spend more than €10 billion on health annually. Much of the effort in regard to mental illness generally is about developing greater community facilities, moving away from institutional care. It was too easy in the past for people to be institutionalised. One of the awful hallmarks of our society in the past has been the high level of institutional care in this area. Community facilities and facilities supporting families in the community are what the Government wants to target.

In regard to health spending generally and health reform, this is an important area that deserves priority and I give the Deputy the assurance that it will get the priority it deserves. The Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Tim O'Malley, has visited many of the facilities. He has worked extraordinarily hard to try to bring reform and some fresh thinking to this area and, I hope, additional resources over time.