Youth suicide and mental health
Pat Buckley raises the programme for Government commitment on bereavement support and cites UNICEF findings on Ireland's youth suicide rate. The Taoiseach says the Government is committed to improving mental health services and points to increased funding, while Buckley interjects that there is still a gap.
I remind the House that not too long ago Fianna Fáil voted against the provision of €37.5 million in funding.
I wish to ask the Taoiseach about the commitment in the programme for Government to improve the uniformity, effectiveness and timelines of support services to families and communities bereaved by suicide. Last week, UNICEF published a damning international report on child well-being, which revealed that the teenage suicide rate in this State is the fourth highest in the EU and OECD region. It also found that we had an above-average international suicide rate of 10.3 per 100,000 of population in the 15 to 19 years age group between 2008 and 2013. It is also a fact that youth mental health staff numbers are at half the recommended HSE level. That is a shocking indictment of the failure of successive Governments to tackle suicide, especially among young people. Clearly, the Government is not meeting its programme for Government commitments. Will the Taoiseach now commit to the provision of fully-staffed and adequately-funded mental health services? Will the Government ensure there is a significant increase in mental health funding in budget 2018 when it is published during the recess?
Comment on this
The Government is very committed to improving the services that we provide to people with mental health difficulties, with a particular focus on reducing the number of people who very sadly take their lives. Since 2012, for example, the year after my party came to office, the budget for mental health was increased by €140 million. This year, funding for mental health will increase from €826 million to €853 million.
The recent UNICEF report shows that Ireland is fourth highest in terms of youth suicide, which is a matter of enormous concern to the Government, and to everyone in society. That is based on 2010 figures. It is important to point out that funding for suicide prevention has been increased substantially since then. In fact, it was more than doubled from €4 million when the party I lead came to office and currently stands at €11 million. Based on more recent figures from 2014 , Ireland is now below the EU average for young suicides. Of course, we want to do much better than be below average - we want to be much better than that again.