The HSE National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP) progressed a significant programme of work in 2021 and has maintained a flexible and productive approach to its projects during these times of great change and disruption. This annual report includes some significant highlights from 2021, including:
• The production of new operational guidance to support mental health services, and local response partners, in developing an Inter-Agency Community Response Plan (CRP) for incidents of death by suspected suicide. This guidance promotes local preparedness, which is key to ensuring a successful and coordinated response to such deaths. It will ultimately improve the ability of agencies to deliver effective suicide postvention responses and supports to people who are impacted.
• Investment in high quality research into suicide, in particular among priority groups that have been identified in Connecting for Life, Ireland’s National Strategy to Reduce Suicide. The HSE NOSP Grant Scheme for Collaborative Research Projects now has 13 projects underway, which will help to build the evidence base for suicide and self-harm prevention in Ireland, and identify areas and opportunities for more targeted attention.
• The advancement of a number of suicide data improvement projects that are presently at different stages of development. These projects are from, or funded by, the HSE NOSP and in collaboration with various partners. They are aligned with goals and objectives in Connecting for Life – in particular strategic goal 7, ‘to improve surveillance, evaluation and high quality research relating to suicidal behaviour’ and will assist more data-driven approaches to decision making.
• The delivery of a suite of education and training initiatives encompassing suicide and self-harm prevention, and suicide bereavement. Given the disruptions over the last two years, this work has required greater utilisation of online solutions, and more targeted relationships with key agencies – to promote, instil or embed suicide prevention training, with important or priority audiences.

P.19 Work to prevent paracetamol-related intentional drug overdose
Action 6.1.2 in Connecting for Life is to ‘continue improvements in adherence to the legislation limiting access to paracetamol through raising awareness amongst retailers and the public and the use of point-of-sale systems’. To advance implementation of this action, a new working group was established in 2021 with leadership from the Department of Health and the HSE NOSP. The overall aim of this working group is to collaborate on actions to  revent paracetamolrelated intentional drug overdose by optimising adherence to existing legislation limiting access to paracetamol. The group has developed a programme of work for 2022 and 2023 that will enhance information and support training development for pharmacy and non-pharmacy retail sector staff, collaborate on preventative interventions, and support actions required following market surveillance work. The working group has representations from the Department of Health, the HSE NOSP, the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), the NSRF, the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU), and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI).