Suicide prevention spend criticised

THE Government spends six times less on suicide prevention than it does on road safety campaigns even though more people die as a result of suicide each year, it emerged yesterday.

Anti-depression group Aware told the Oireachtas Committee on Health yesterday that since 1998, the Government has provided €17.5 million for suicide prevention in research. Yet, that is similar to the yearly budget for road safety campaigns.

Julie Healy and Sandra Hogan of Aware said 336 people were killed on the roads during 2003, compared to 444 people who died as a result of suicide.