The Minister for Tourism Dr Jim McDaid today apologised for suggesting that suicide victims are "selfish bastards".
Dr McDaid apologised on RTE radio this afternoon, saying he had not intended to hurt anybody affected by suicide.
Dr McDaid said he was trying to provoke a debate amongst the young audience he was addressing at a youth conference in Letterkenny.
Dr McDaid did not deny he had made the comments but stressed that he had no great expertise of suicide. He said he was highlighting an aspect of suicide that was often not explored - that it was reactive.
Dr McDaid was quoted as referring to anyone who committed suicide as a "selfish bastard" in an evening newspaper.
Dr McDaid is reported to have said: "There is something I have been meaning to say for a long time. A friend of mine’s son committed suicide. She said that hal-an-hour after she found him she called him a ‘selfish bastard’.
"I completely agree with her - 90 per cent of the time suicide is reactive and anyone who commits suicide is a selfish bastard."
Labour’s spokesperson on Equality and Law Reform, Ms Jan O’Sullivan condemned the comments as "cruel and insensitive".
"I am astonished that anyone should make such ill-informed remarks, but it is absolutely unbelievable that comments of this nature should be made by a minister who is also a medical doctor".
Labour's Ms Jan O'Sullivan has called on the Taoiseach to tell Minister McDaid to withdraw his comments. She said it was unbelievable that the comments had been made by a Minister who was also a medical doctor.