Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to take part in this debate, and I think that the health committee has done some sterling work in terms of taking forward this particular inquiry. Every time somebody commits suicide, they take a little bit of the life of everyone else around them as well, and, you know, we in this Chamber have known individuals who have taken their own lives, and we know of the tragedy that can unfold for those who love them as a result of that.

Three hundred and sixty deaths in 2017 is 360 too many, and we all must do everything that we can to ensure that those numbers start coming down. As the Chair of the committee quite rightly pointed out, the statistics are absolutely going in the wrong direction, and that should be a cause of alarm for each and every one of us. And I don't think that it's any coincidence that, at the same time as those statistics going in the wrong direction, we've also seen a lengthening of waiting times for people getting access to talking therapies, and problems with mental health services in different parts of Wales as well.

I was very struck by the comments about the farming industry. I can remember inviting Tir Dewi to come in to give evidence to the cross-party group on faith about their work, because I know that they are an organisation that is inspired, effectively, by the Christian faith of those volunteers who engage with it. I was alarmed at some of the individual stories that they shared at that cross-party group just about the challenges—the unique challenges, really—that many in the farming community face. And I think it is absolutely right that the committee has highlighted this in this important inquiry report and the need to have some focus on the farming industry going forward.

I'm also pleased to see the references to building design in the report. I can remember visiting a mental health unit at Glan Clwyd Hospital around two and a half years ago with the current mental health director, not long after he started in his post, and I was absolutely appalled to see that there were many ligature points, even in that mental health ward where people are sectioned because, sometimes, they're at such a point of crisis that they're thinking about taking their own lives. And I was astonished that these were things that had not been addressed in that building design, despite the fact that that was a health board that was in special measures for mental health purposes. So, clearly, there's an awful lot of work to do within our own public health service estate in addition to, of course, retrofitting buildings and dealing with any new building applications that come through, and making sure that the planning system adequately considers these sorts of things as we go forward.

I think it's quite right that the report also highlighted the need to address the ongoing stigma that there is in relation to those with mental health not feeling as though they are able to talk about the things that they are encountering. I think that the statistics that Mind Cymru and Hafal have highlighted, which say that 40 per cent of employees are reluctant to discuss their mental health with their employer, are pretty stark. But, what's really awful is that fewer than four in 10 employees would consider hiring someone if they knew that they had a mental health problem. That is shameful. We've got to address this sort of prejudice in our society and amongst the workforce. I think that, yes, quite rightly, the Welsh Government, the National Assembly for Wales and other public services have got to show some leadership on this. But, somehow, we've also got to reach out to employers across Wales and make sure that they are also engaging positively with the workforce. I think that we can look at public sector contracts with private suppliers, whether they be supplying parts of the workforce or goods and services, to see what they are doing, frankly, to ensure the positive mental health and well-being of the workforces that they employ.

So, I want to commend this report to the Senedd. I was very pleased to see the recommendations—pleased to see many of the positive things that the Government had said in response to those recommendations. But, I think that we do need to continue to have a focus on this issue on a cross-party basis, so that we can reduce this problem, reduce this prevalence of suicide, with so many needless lives actually lost.