A report into mental health services in Carlow, Kilkenny and south Tipperary has found that while the rate of suicide in the area was not above the norm, proper assessments by clinical staff may have alerted them about the risks to a number of people who went on to die by apparent suicide.

The report by the Mental Health Commission (MHC) was carried out in response to the deaths of 13 people in the area between January 2012 and March 2014. All died by apparent suicide.

It found that had clinical staff carried out adequate assessments of the people involved, they may have been alerted about the risk of suicide.

It also found that training in the area of risk assessment was either insufficient, or was simply not being applied in all cases.

The review was carried out in March 2014 and the report noted that at that time, 16 and 17-year-olds who were newly presenting to the mental health service were not receiving a safe or adequate service.

Other issues highlighted in the report included understaffing and poor communication between the service and patients and their families.

It made 19 recommendations, 12 of which have already been implemented.

Commenting on the report, the Minister for Primary Care, Social Care and Mental Health, Kathleen Lynch, said that she is ‘satisfied that the specific HSE implementation plan, which was agreed with the MHC, has delivered or is delivering on these important recommendations'.

She said she had been ‘aware for some time of concerns around the issue of suicide or other incidents in the area'.

"I supported the original decision to make this targeted intervention and I wholeheartedly support objective measures which promote quality and safety for service users who are at the centre of everything we do.

"The targeted intervention team found no basis to suggest that the rate of suicide in the area was anomalous. Nor was there a common causal factor for the incidents and deaths examined. However, the intervention did identify specific improvements and they are being implemented," she commented.

She added that the lessons learned from Carlow, Kilkenny and south Tipperary ‘will be shared with other services across the country'.