Kildare Overlooked For Youth Mental Health Hub Despite Highest Suicide Rate In Leinster

According to CSO figures, 14 people died by suicide in Kildare in 2023.

Kildare continues to record one of the highest youth suicide rates in Leinster - and the county has again been overlooked for a Jigsaw mental health service.

No funding was allocated for a Jigsaw hub in Newbridge or Kildare in the recent Budget, despite calls for one to meet growing demand among young people.

Jigsaw, which provides early intervention mental health supports, operates in twelve locations nationwide and will expand to Waterford and Clare next.

Figures show Kildare has the highest proportion of under-24s in the country.

Senator Fiona O' Loughlin (FF) said face-to-face services are urgently needed alongside online supports due to the high proportion of young people in the county.

"I went through the statistics earlier. Kildare has the highest rate of youth suicide in Leinster. That has to stand for something," she said.

According to CSO figures, 14 people died by suicide in Kildare in 2023.

12 were male and two were female.

In 2022, the figure was 26, with 22 males and 4 females.

27 people died by suicide across the county in 2021.

Between 2017 and 2021, 110 people died by suicide in Kildare.

She added: "I talked to Jigsaw and the HSE and I had discussions with the previous Minister of State with responsibility for mental health. I was told that after Wicklow and Tipperary, Newbridge was next in terms of need. Initially, when I saw two new centres were to be opened, without knowing where they were, I assumed and wrote to the Minister of State on the basis that one of them would be in Newbridge. It is not good enough to say that the services are online. I agree that it is better than nothing and it is good to have a cohort online, but young people who have a huge sense of helplessness need to have face-to-face and one-to-one contact. I again make the appeal that Newbridge be considered in the next round."

Responding, Minister of State Kieran O' Donnell said "several factors need to be considered in the development of a new services location for services like Jigsaw. A proposal for a new location requires a detailed business case, premises, support from the regional HSE management and necessary funding to resource the staffing of the service."

He added: "Any proposal also requires agreement from the HSE national child and youth mental health office in the context of agreeing new service priorities under the annual Estimates process and the development of the HSE national service plan for the next year. The Minister of State is very aware of the significant efforts by Senator O'Loughlin to secure a Jigsaw service for Kildare, including trying to secure a premises and arrange for representatives from Jigsaw to evaluate its suitability.The Department of Health says further discussions with the HSE will determine future service locations."