The Fine Gael spokesman on children, Mr Dan Neville, has called on the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Cowen, to initiate an urgent study into the higher levels of suicide in rural areas.
In a statement he said that the rise in suicides has been shown to be a rural rather than an urban phenomenon. In the past 20 years all eight health boards have shown a rise in male suicides. The increase has been least pronounced in the Eastern Health Board area.
"We must examine why males in the Eastern Health Board area, 80 per cent of whom reside in Dublin, appear to be relatively protected against suicide. This goes against what one might expect."