Suicide prevention - State must stop dragging heels on issue

It would be understandable if those who are concerned with the extraordinary incidence of suicide in this country were to greet with scepticism the latest Government promise on the subject.

That promise, from Junior Health Minister Tim O’Malley, to the effect that a radical approach to suicide prevention would emerge in two months, should be viewed at this stage as nothing more than a promise.

This Government has an abysmal record of inaction when it comes to addressing the pervasive cancer of suicide, which has a bigger victim toll than the annual carnage on our roads.

Seven years ago, an expert group presented to the then minister a report containing 80 proposals, many of which related to suicide, and not one was implemented.

Fine Gael’s Dan Neville, who is president of the Irish Association of Suicidology, described such inaction as a political scandal because the Government had practically ignored the issue.

Nobody will disagree with Mr O’Malley, who has responsibility for it, that mental health does not, and did not, get the attention it deserved.

His promise of a radical approach is predicated upon a report which another expert group he set up is expected to deliver within the next two months.

Establishing an expert group on anything in this country is usually tantamount to dissembling, a tactic employed to avoid making a decision or taking action.

It would be disingenuous to ascribe such a motive to Mr O’Malley, but the Government’s appalling track record on mental health issues and suicide prevention impels one to a justifiably mordant response.

Whatever strides have been achieved, it is the largely voluntary organisations which have brought them about, without great aid from Government departments.

So much so that a multi-disciplinary approach, involving doctors, acute patient groups, community facilitators and the general public, will be launched for the Cork and Kerry area, one of 16 across Europe.

It follows on a successful pilot intervention study in Germany and has been partly funded by the EU for further research into the effectiveness of this community-based approach.

It has the support of the National Suicide Research Foundation, UCC, the European Alliance Against Depression, the HSE Southern, Mid-Western and South Eastern areas and the Irish College of General Practitioners.

Over the next two years this practical study will be carried out in Cork and Kerry and then expanded into a national programme, depending on its successful implementation. The omens for this are good, because the German model on which it will be based saw a reduction in cases of suicidal behaviour.

The experience gained there will be applied to Irish conditions, and given the extraordinary incidence of suicide across all ages and classes of our society, this programme is expected to be an important mental health promotion initiative.

This country has witnessed that the absence of proper psychiatric services can result in desperate tragedy, both for victims and their families.

It is time the Government recognised suicide for what it is, a national killer that must be contained.