MOVES TO regulate suicide prevention groups around the country will begin in the new year, the Minister of State for Mental Health has said.
All organisations involved in suicide prevention are to be invited to a meeting with the Minister, John Moloney, in January to discuss plans to improve standards in the area. The move comes after concerns about governance issues at suicide prevention helpline Teenline Ireland were raised with the Health Service Executive and the Minister.
At least 520 people took their lives by suicide last year and according to figures from the Central Statistics Office, there were 104 suicides in the first three months of 2010.
There are up to 500 groups with roles in suicide prevention, the Minister said, with some overlapping and some gaps in services.
Many of the groups sprung up after a death by suicide within a family or community and include Teenline Ireland, Sosad and Turning the Tide of Suicide, as well as larger groups such as Pieta House, Samaritans and Aware.
Mr Moloney said he was worried some “supervisory involvement” was required for the various groups. “There should be protocols and standards that the groups should aspire to.”
He said the Irish Association of Suicidology, set up in 1996 in response to concerns about the rising suicide rates in Ireland, had agreed to act as a regulator for the area.
“It is very obvious there are many gaps in the services, and people mean well and want to do well, but I wonder if we had all the groups on the same pathway with achievable aims, would we do better?”
Some € 5.5 million was allocated to the area of suicide prevention through the National Office for Suicide Prevention this year, the Minister said, and it was important the funds were put to maximum use.
“There should not be any overlapping of services,” he said. “But it is not a matter for me and the department insisting on a particular approach to be taken; I want to listen to groups and explore how they can see better results.”
Mr Moloney said he would invite all of the groups to a discussion meeting in Dublin in January.
“This is not an attempt to take people away from the good work they are doing, but it is a way to see how we can best operate,” he said.
“We want to do something in a cohesive and targeted way.”
