I wasn't, of course, a member of the committee when the evidence was received, and I want to begin my contribution to this debate by expressing my gratitude to all involved in this very important piece of work—to my fellow committee members, to staff and most of all, of course, to those who gave evidence. This is a wide-ranging and comprehensive report, and as Lynne Neagle has said, I think any one of us contributing to this debate could talk about it for hours. I want to concentrate on just three of the recommendations. 

I want to begin with recommendation 2 around public awareness. It is crucial that we create a climate where suicide is truly understood to be everybody's business. Suicide can affect any family in any community at any time, and it remains incredibly difficult to talk about. There is still shame, there is still stigma, and there absolutely should not be. We all need to be aware when those around us may feel isolated, lonely and desperate, we need to be ready to ask when someone is okay, and to listen, to really listen to their reply, and perhaps most of all to what they do not say. 

And we need more openness, and it is in this spirit that I share with this Chamber today the fact that my own family is one of those that has been affected. When I was a very little girl, my cousin David, who was in his late teens, took his own life. I chiefly remember him just suddenly not being there any more, and when I asked where he was, being told to shush. What had happened was never spoken of, and it was years until I really knew. What I did know was that my much loved aunt was never the same again.

Now, that, of course, was many years ago, and much has changed, but not enough. And this brings me to recommendation 15 and the others that refer to the need to provide services for the bereaved. I want to associate myself with every word that Lynne Neagle has just said. Of course, in the 1960s, when we lost my cousin, there was nothing. My aunt was never supported to address the terrible grief and the complex emotions that those bereaved by suicide experience, and this is not surprising. What is surprising and, indeed, is shocking, is that today, many families affected by suicide are still unable to access any bereavement support, let alone the specialist suicide bereavement support that they need and to which they should be entitled. The committee heard of excellent examples of good practice, but Members describe themselves in the report as 'staggered' at the lack of support still available to those bereaved by suicide, and I am staggered too. This cannot stand. Such support does not need to be expensive, but the cost to those who do not receive the help is incalculable. Welsh Government, with appropriate agencies, must ensure that appropriate bereavement support is available to all those who need it, when they need it, in a form that works for them, all over Wales. Specifically, they need to support the third sector organisations who excel in this regard. And I have to say, as Lynne Neagle has said to the Minister, that in this regard, acceptance in principle is not enough. Too often, acceptance in principle means kicking this into the long grass. I very much hope that is not the Minister's intention, and I would ask him today to review that acceptance in principle and turn it today into an acceptance in full.

I finally want to turn briefly to recommendation 18, which calls on the Welsh Government to recognise male suicide as a national priority. It is beyond doubt that the sexist stereotypes around acceptable masculine behaviour contribute directly to the very high suicide rate in men. Society still does not encourage men and boys to be open about their vulnerabilities—weakness is still frowned on. Most of us are conscious of the negative effects that sexism and patriarchal norms have on the lives of women and girls. We need to remember that this sexism, these patriarchal norms, are sometimes literally fatal to men and boys too. Recommendation 18 calls on the Welsh Government to allocate appropriate funding and to implement new approaches, encouraging men to talk about their mental health and seek help. The Welsh Government needs to act. But there is one thing that we could all do. Let's all commit today never again to say to a little boy, 'Big boys don't cry.'

The Welsh Government's overall positive response to this committee's recommendations are welcome on the whole, but there is a need for urgency, as Dai Lloyd and Lynne Neagle and others have said. We must none of us rest until Wales is suicide free. The committee will closely scrutinise the Government's delivery on this vital agenda, and I will be privileged to take part in that work.