Mental illness and suicide are major problems in our society. There are three times more deaths by suicide than on the roads every year. This week Turn the Tide of Suicide launched a campaign for the establishment of a suicide prevention authority. It is time this proposal was given very serious consideration, as up to 700 people take their lives by suicide every year. Over 300,000 people suffer from mental illness, while 75,000 self-harm every year. Surely this represents a crisis of national proportions. The National Office for Suicide Prevention is clearly limited and underfunded. Being part of the HSE, it is not independent and cannot be an advocate for vulnerable persons. The programme for Government contains a commitment to ring-fence €35 million annually for mental illness initiatives, but one must ask where this funding has gone to. Have mental health services expanded or has the money been used to close gaps in the health budget? We have seen the success in recent years of the Road Safety Authority in reducing the number of road deaths, notwithstanding the terrible tragedies in recent days. A suicide prevention authority could achieve similar results. It needs a Government commitment to establish such an authority and ensure it would have an adequate budget to operate effectively. Will the Government give that commitment and start the process of closure for the thousands of families, loved ones and friends who have been bereaved by suicide? Such a commitment could, over time, result in people at risk receiving help and the toll on our society being reduced.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and agree with him on the huge tragedy suicide presents for families, loved ones and friends of those who take their own lives. I also agree that the level of suicide in Ireland is very disturbing. It is something Deputy Dan Neville, in particular, has been highlighting for quite some time. It is also an issue about which the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, is particularly concerned. In that context, the Government decided to allocate a specific budget of €35 million for mental health services in order to address the issue of suicide. However, it is not really a question of putting in place an authority or an office. Suicide is a problem that is not solvable simply by putting in place a State office or body to deal with the issue. Instead, what we must do, through the health service and more widely in society, is address the causes of suicide. We must ensure there are interventions at a personal level for people who are at risk. Sometimes, though, it is not very obvious or clear that someone is suicidal. We have all come across cases of suicide in which the people who took their own lives were the last people we would have expected to do so. Very often we do not know what is going on or what is troubling people in their lives. Suicide is a priority issue for the Minister of State who I am sure would be very happy to discuss in detail with the Deputy the measures she is taking to address it.

I thank the Tánaiste for his answer, but other countries in Europe have established national offices to tackle the issue of suicide with some success in that they have reduced the numbers of deaths by suicide. It is vital that we take the issue seriously and consider establishing a suicide prevention authority. It is clear that the €35 million referred to has not been spent on mental illness initiatives and has not been ring-fenced. I ask the Tánaiste to outline clearly where the money was spent this year. How can we have faith that next year when this money is given to the HSE, it will be used for the purposes intended? That is why it is vitally important we have a suicide prevention authority, with control of its own budget, which could work with determination on this issue. As the Tánaiste has said, a Minister of State from his own party has responsibility in this area. It is time she clearly outlined where the €35 million was spent this year. She must also ensure it is spent appropriately next year. Otherwise, we will be here again next year noting that the money has been used to plug yet another gap in the overall HSE budget.

I will ask the Minister of State to brief the Deputy directly on the measures she is taking to address the issue of suicide and also the way in which the budget for mental health services is being spent. We must ensure any measure we take to deal with the issue of suicide, the level of which I agree is alarmingly high, is effective, whether it be the establishment of a dedicated office or authority or some other method.

The important thing is to ensure that whatever measures are taken are effective. I will ask the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to provide a briefing on the actions she is taking to address this.