Minister for Health Mary Harney reiterated yesterday that she hoped to spend a second term at the Department of Health.
"I have ambitions to remain as Minister for Health after the next election," she said.
She made the comment as she was being questioned on RTÉ's News at One programme about her commitment to fund the Government's 10-year strategy to tackle suicide, which was published on Thursday.
She said she could not commit funding to all 10 years of the strategy at this point.
"I can't commit money 10 years' time . . . I can't commit to what a government might do 10 years from now . . . I don't expect, even though I have ambitions to remain as Minister for Health after the next election, I don't expect to be Minister for Health in 10 years, but I am committing, and this Government is committing, to putting the resources behind this plan and to seriously increasing the resources that go into mental health."
She stressed that the strategy would work where others had not because it was action focused.
"It's not just a strategy that outlines what needs to be done. It's very much focused around 26 different recommendations that will be implemented.
"It's a 10-year strategy. Obviously it will require resources, and I announced yesterday that for the remainder of this year €500,000 will be put into its implementation."
Asked about funding for it in other future years, she said that it would have "ongoing funding". Asked how much, she replied: "It will have the funding required for the plan."
Pushed on whether the plan was costed, Ms Harney said it would cost an estimated €3 million a year.
Some 453 people died by suicide in the State last year, and hospitals recorded more than 11,000 cases of self-harm over the same period. The plan aims to reduce these figures.