Fine Gael’s deputy spokesperson on health has claimed that more people died by suicide than were killed
in road accidents last year.
Official figures show 413 people took their own lives last year and road deaths claimed 415 lives.
But West Limerick TD Mr Dan Neville said in relation to suicide: "It is widely accepted that these statistics do not represent the full extent of the problem".
The TD’s statement comes during Depression Awareness Week organised by the Aware support group. According to the group’s figures, 300,000 Irish people suffer from depression.
"There is a major ongoing campaign to create public awareness about the best way to reduce the carnage on our roads and rightly so," said Mr Neville.
"Little investment goes into research on suicide and why numbers have rocketed since the 1960s, when an average of 63 people died by their own hands each year.
"International opinion says that 80 per cent of people who commit suicide suffer from depression," Mr Neville said.
"There is an urgent need for public debate and ongoing research as to why so many people, many of them young males, take their own lives".
