Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank everybody for coming to this meeting to make their contributions. I will not go over the old ground. The research has been done. The studies have been done. The findings are there. The witnesses have put their real-life experience on the public record for us all to hear. I think it is powerful. We should leverage and use it in a way that can move things on. I do not want to patronise anyone and I do not want to make any promises to anyone. We need to identify where the barriers and the blockages lie. We all have responsibilities. We are policymakers and legislators and the witnesses are stakeholders. From what I have gathered here today, a great deal of work has been done to establish the facts.

It is evident from the mortality rates for infants and elderly people in the Traveller community that there is a lack of action. The witnesses have also identified a lack of funding.

I will focus on the silo system in Irish public life, that is, the Department of Health versus other Departments. Mr. Walsh has said that the Department has certain responsibilities, but it cannot reach into other Departments. That is partly our problem. How can we cross-cut Departments in order for them to come together to provide a package that improves healthcare for the Traveller community? I would like the committee to focus on that issue and I ask the Chairman to note it for future meetings. We must tackle that silo mentality. Even in the Department of Health itself, there are silos within silos. We have identified a specific cohort of a community with unacceptable levels of mortality. Some provision is made in the general populace provision, the national drug strategy, or through care of the aged. This specific cohort needs specific attention and additional resources. The findings and studies are there, and we need a clear action plan to address them. I understand that the Department only has so much funding with which to work, but if there is a lack of funding, we need to specifically prioritise that funding and use it where it can have the greatest impact, whether that is addressing suicide among the Traveller community, drug abuse, care of the elderly, or resources. Let us make a start and provide the additional resources somewhere. I would be interested to hear from Ms Collins, who mentioned that she started lobbying for primary healthcare back in 1992. That project started out with 85 families, and is now up to nearly 400. Where is that initiative now? Has it been expanded? Is it nationwide or mainstream?