Suicide prevention and mental health
Deputy Crowe highlights multiple suicides in his constituency and asks for action under the mental health programme. The Taoiseach refers the matter to the Minister of State, who says Connecting for Life is being rolled out nationally and funding for suicide prevention has increased.
The programme for Government at pages 65 to 69 deals with greater access to mental health care and outlines proposals on services that are missing or thin on the ground in my constituency. There were four suicide deaths in my constituency over a 12-day period. Behind all these deaths, there is a grieving family, friends, neighbours and loved ones. Sadly, I do not know the number of deaths that have happened in my constituency-----
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-----but it seems it is happening every second day. A task force was established in the Cork area, although I do not know how successful it was. I ask that we do something for these families.
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I am also concerned about the idea of suicidal ideation following these deaths. I do not want any more families in this situation.
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Would the Taoiseach consider doing something in this regard?
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The National Office for Suicide Prevention is rolling out the Connecting for Life strategy in every county. It is an association between the local authorities, the Garda Síochána and the HSE. Thankfully, the register of suicides in this country is going the right way and, while it is not where we want it to be, the numbers are dropping. There were 399 deaths by suicide last year. Funding has increased to €13 million this year for that office and we will continue to invest heavily in this area as we see results.