CSO figures on suicide are not comprehensive

Regarding the article on suicide in the Irish Examiner last Saturday, I would like to point out that the figures on suicide for 2012 released by the Central Statistics Office last week are only preliminary figures, and I would recommend caution in interpreting them.

The final figures might only be available in 2014 or 2015, a delay with consequences, that requires change.

It was for this reason that the National Suicide Research Foundation developed the Suicide Support and Information System (SSIS) real-time register of suicides. With funding from the National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP), the SSIS was a collaboration with coroners in Cork City and County, between September 2008 and March 2011, and covered all deaths by suicide.