The National Office for Suicide Prevention today outlined how it plans to spend its budget of €8.8 million in 2014, an 8% increase on the budget for suicide prevention last year. This represents the health services greatest investment to date in suicide prevention in a calendar year.

The HSE’s National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP) leads the national implementation of ‘Reach Out’, the Government strategy for suicide prevention. The NOSP plays a pivotal role in funding, coordinating and giving strategic direction to the work of over 40 agencies from the voluntary, statutory and non-statutory sector working to promote positive mental health and reduce suicide and self-harm in Ireland.

In 2014 the National Office for Suicide Prevention will;
• Provide training for over 10,000 people in ASIST and safeTALK, two internationally recognised suicide prevention training programmes, which are offered free of charge nationwide
• Provide funding of over €6million to statutory services and over 30 NGOs, to carry out a wide array of work in communities across the country focusing on promoting positive mental health and reducing suicide and self-harm
• Increase from 10 to 16 the number of Suicide Prevention Resource Officers around the country.

It is estimated that approximately 22,000 people in Ireland have received safeTALK training and almost 30,000 people have received ASIST training since the NOSP began funding the training programme in 2004. Allowing for some people having attended both training programmes, it is estimated that 1 in every 100 Irish adults has received suicide prevention training, through ASIST and SafeTALK, which is offered free of charge.

In 2014, the NOSP will continue to work in partnership to deliver local and community based supports as well as frontline services. The NOSP will also work to improve access to information and supports for anyone experiencing mental health difficulties with the development of:
• The free-call Connect number, which will be launched in March with the NOSP’s partner, the Samaritans – this new number will simplify the signposting to services for people who may be going through tough times;
• An online portal that will provide easily accessible and accurate information, which will launch in the Autumn
• A new national social marketing campaign, which will launch in the Autumn. The campaign will provide information on how and where people can get information.

Mr. Gerry Raleigh, Director of the National Office of Suicide Prevention, commented, “In Ireland, 10 people die every week as a result of suicide. When someone takes their own life, the effect on their family, friends and community is devastating. The factors leading to someone taking their own life are complex. National and international research has shown that reducing the incidence of suicide requires efforts at every level in society and in every community. There is a wide array of work underway across the country supported by the NOSP to promote positive mental health and reduce suicide and self harm – as a partnership approach is the only way forward.”

The NOSP’s key achievements for 2013 included:
• Funding €4,947,861 to 31 NGOs to deliver initiatives aimed at promoting positive mental health and reducing self harm and suicide
• Funding over €400,000 directly to community organisations in the ‘Community Resilience Fund’ to resource local programmes and services focusing on supporting communities responding to suicide
• Development of a national online education programme on suicide prevention for GPs
• Continued delivery of mental health promotion programmes across a range of settings including workplaces, third level institutions, prisons, schools and sporting organisations
• Continued investment in research
• Continued investment in health education campaigns such as “Let Someone Know” and “Your Mental Health” that promote positive mental health and the importance of talking and listening
• Continued investment in training programmes, including safeTALK and ASIST.