No Extra Funding For Suicide Prevention

No extra funding is planned for suicide prevention this year, the Tánaiste told the Dáil today. No extra funding is planned for suicide prevention this year, the Tánaiste told the Dáil today.

A newly-formed alliance of 11 groups placed advertisements in newspapers today calling for the implementation of key Government-commissioned reports on the issue.

Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton told the Dáil: “A far greater number die by suicide than in road accidents.” He asked if the Government had any plans to introduce a supplementary financial estimate to deal with cutbacks in the suicide prevention programme.

Tánaiste Michael McDowell, who was representing the Taoiseach, asked Mr Bruton to put down a parliamentary question to the relevant minister on the issue. He said: “I’m not aware of any proposal to introduce a supplementary estimate in that regard.”

The National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP) told a one-day rally in Dublin yesterday that sustained funding is essential to implement the targets contained in two Government-commissioned reports on preventing suicide.

NOSP director Geoff Day said adequate resources to implement the Vision for Change and Reach Out blueprints were vital to address more than 500 deaths by suicide every year.

The NOSP said it is carrying out research to establish if the number of people who die by suicide is underestimated.

The proportion of the population which self-harm every year is estimated to be about 11,000, but international trends indicate that the actual figure could be four to five times higher.