Someone came to see me in a surgery last week, as it happens—a mother who was grieving for her daughter following suicide. She was in grief, and she was asking 'Why?' Why couldn’t more have been done to help her? Why were those things that were obvious to her now as signs that her daughter’s life was in danger not obvious to her at the time? She had been in contact with mental health services. The mother said that she’d tried to take her own life once. Three weeks later, she was offered a mental health consultation over the phone.

This isn't the first time that I've sat in a room with a family who were grieving in similar circumstances since my election, and far too many mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, children, friends are also asking 'Why?' And that’s what we as a committee did, and I was shocked in taking part in this inquiry. Each of us was. We heard the reports of those who have suffered the impacts of suicide. We received evidence on the steps that could be taken here in Wales to respond to this national crisis. I do recognise that there is work being done by Government, but this is what we are facing—a crisis, no less. Suicide is the main cause of death in young men in Wales, as we've already heard; the main cause of death in those under 35. It emerges from something that is preventable. If it were a physical illness, as we've already heard, then everything would be thrown at it to ensure that people are given the support that they need, but at the moment that simply isn't the case.

We need to raise awareness, therefore, about the issues related to suicide. We need greater training, we need better quality training, we need clearer pathways through the health system to assist those who are at risk of suicide. But from my point of view, what is central to the recommendations is that the Welsh Government needs to take all possible steps to ensure that there is equality between the provision of healthcare and mental health care. I hear far too often from constituents about the difficulties they face in accessing mental health services. Often, it includes difficulties in accessing children and young people’s mental health services, and this has to change. We must do more to encourage people to seek the support that they need and to look for that support at an early stage. We need to raise awareness of the kind of support that is available before they get to that crisis point.

I hear too often of vulnerable people who are being turned away from services when they do seek out those services—hearing, perhaps, that their mental health condition is not considered to be sufficiently serious. There was a recent case in Anglesey over Christmas: a young boy had completed a suicide, although he went to hospital seeking help. Unfortunately, there was no bed available for him. He was considered not to need that support and he himself decided what he needed to do in order to deal with his pain. And it was a very severe blow to that community—a community that has responded by coming together and identifying that suicide, as we’re discussing today, is everyone’s business. I’m very pleased to see the response of organisations such as the young farmers, individuals such as Laura Burton from the Time to Change Wales movement, which have responded by deciding to spread that message within our communities on the impacts of suicide and the factors that can contribute to it, and there is a role for us all to play in safeguarding and helping each other.

Those who have lost someone to suicide are urging us to ensure that no other parent, partner or child should suffer as they have suffered. We’ve heard that appeal from Jack again this afternoon. Yes, we talk more about mental health these days than we have done in the past, and that is a positive step. There’s no doubt about that in terms of dealing with that stigma surrounding mental health, but there is a long, long way to go. A quarter of the population, as we often hear bandied about as a statistic, will suffer some sort of mental health problem during their lifetime. We all know somebody who has been affected, and we ourselves can be affected at any time too. So, we must continue to talk about mental health and we must talk about suicide, but we must also remember that that talk has to go hand in hand with action.