Fianna Fail has published a new policy document on suicide prevention, which aims to reduce the incidence of suicide in Ireland by 30% over 10 years.

The document, Actions Speak Louder than Words: A Structural Approach to a Societal Issue, was written by Seanad spokesperson on health, Senator Marc MacSharry. It aims to ‘radically change the approach of the government and health service to mental health issues', Fianna Fail said.

According to Senator MacSharry, this issue is now a ‘public health emergency'.

"We are living in an era where suicide is occurring at an unprecedented level. Figures show 525 people died by suicide in 2011, up 7% on the previous year, with men accounting for 84% of cases. Those working in this area fear that with a large number of ‘undetermined cases', the number of deaths by suicide has actually gone beyond 600," he explained.

He said that it is obvious that previous efforts to tackle this issue are simply not working. He noted that the government's policy on mental health, A Vision for Change, which was published in 2006, stated that a minimum of 8.2% of the health budget needed to be ring fenced for mental health.

Today, just 5.5% of the health budget is spent on mental health.

However, Senator MacSharry emphasised that this ‘is not simply about money'.

"One of the reasons behind the impressive success in reducing deaths on our roads was the coordinated national focus via a properly resourced independent body in the form of the Road Safety Authority. Therefore we are proposing a radical reform of the structure of the National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP)," he explained.

Under this plan, the NOSP would become independent of the HSE ‘with special status and access in the Department of Health, a ring-fenced budget, performance targets, flexibility in recruitment of experts and the authority to influence government policy in key departments including education, justice, and finance, as well as health'.

Some of the other proposals contained in the policy document include:
-The establishment of a NOSP 24-hour hotline, to be staffed by trained professionals
-The establishment of out-of-hours emergency social worker teams
-A reversal of the government's decision to abolish dedicated guidance counselling in secondary schools. Provision of this service should also be extended to primary schools
-The proper resourcing of GPs to provide comprehensive help to people at risk of suicide.

"In recent years there has been a marked increase in the rate of middle aged male suicides and the tragic loss of young teenagers to suicide. There are no quick fixes or easy solutions to dealing with mental health issues and suicide, but the scale of our response must match the scale of the problem. We have a long way to go to achieve that but I believe this document sets out a clear, effective and fresh policy approach," Senator MacSharry said.

The document was written following a seven-month research and consultation process with among others, suicide prevention organisations, Gardai, secondary schools, community centres, youth centres and counsellors.

It can be downloaded here