Suicide costing €900m a year, committee told

SUICIDE costs Irish society almost €900 million a year, an Oireachtas sub-committee heard yesterday.

“The estimated (annual) direct, indirect and human cost of suicide in Ireland is around €871.5m,” said Bairbre Nic Aongusa, mental health principal officer at the Department of Health.

“This is equivalent to a little under 1% of Gross National Product in Ireland for 2001 and 2002,” she added.