With regard to the Government's strategy on suicide prevention and the mental health strategy, I do not know if the Tánaiste saw the report from the 3Ts charity which again put the focus on suicide. Somewhere in the region of 1,000 citizens across the island have lost their lives through suicide and, in my own constituency, 16 people died through suicide in 2011. One statistic really disturbs me - one child under 18 years dies by suicide every 18 days. I have raised this issue consistently with the Taoiseach. First, promises were made about 414 mental health service positions, but, to the best of my knowledge, they have still not been filed. Second, given the all-island nature of this national crisis, can some progress be made in terms of having an all-island strategy to deal with this matter? There are more people losing their lives through suicide than are now, thankfully, being lost on the roads. The approach used in that regard in terms of education and informing people would work well in suicide prevention.

I join the Deputy in welcoming the publication on Monday of the "Suicide in Ireland" survey, a helpful and meaningful contribution to the discussion on how to improve suicide prevention measures. As the Deputy knows, a number of measures have been progressed by the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, while the National Office for Suicide Prevention has implemented many of the recommendations of the strategy. A special programme of measures to further advance suicide prevention is being developed and I expect that the Minister of State will be glad to share them with the Deputy and the House at the appropriate time.

With regard to the Deputy's suggestion that we might deal with this issue on a North-South basis, I am very keen that we do so.

As the Deputy is aware, there has been quite a degree of co-operation on a North-South basis in health. This is one area that could be developed on a North-South basis and I am sure it is something that the Minister for Health will discuss with the Northern Ireland Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Edwin Poots.