A new Government strategy to prevent suicide aims to reduce the rate of suicide to 7 per 100,000 or below by 2035.
The ten-year strategy, Connecting for Life 2026–2035, says that it prioritises compassionate, person-centred care.
In recent years, the suicide rate has fallen by a third - from a standardised rate of 12.9 per 100,000 in 2000 to 8.8 per 100,000 in 2023.
The strategy focuses on strengthened crisis supports in hospitals and communities, expanded community-based services, trauma-informed approaches and improved access to supports for those experiencing self-harm.
Nearly 1900 public submissions were received during the consultation process on the strategy and "lived experience" has been central to its development.
'There's always help' - Moran
At the Government announcement, Minister of State Kevin 'Boxer' Moran spoke about his suicide attempt and he urged people to talk to others.
He said: "I went through an awful lot of difficulty in my life where a number of things caught up with me and I did try to commit suicide.
"I bottled it within myself for years and years, and the only people that knew were my wife, my parents, my mother-in-law, father, and my best friend. I carried that right through my career as I entered national politics."
He also said that when he opened up about his mental health issues on RTÉ's Late Late Show in 2017, the most difficult part of that was revealing to his two teenage sons that he had attempted suicide.
"The most daunting thing I had to do that evening, coming up the motorway, with my two teenage sons, I had to tell them that their father nearly committed suicide, and explain to them on the way to Dublin what had happened," he added.
Mr Moran said that the phrase "mental health" has a stigma attached to it.
He said: "It affects people like me, it affects hundreds of people up and down the country, the feeling that it prevents them from going forward."
He urged others to open up if they are dealing with difficulties.
"I always say there's always help and there's always solution. It's not always easy, but you have to talk first," Mr Moran added.
If you have been affected by any issues in this story, support is available at www.rte.ie/helplines
