Ms Ronnie Fay:

To put the matter in context, one of the main human rights abuses being experienced by Travellers relates to health.

The all-Ireland Traveller health study was undertaken in 2007 and published in September 2010. It showed a mortality rate three and a half times the national average between men, women and children, a huge disparity in life expectancy, high levels of morbidity and high levels of mortality due to suicide. The abuse is that since that time there has been no action plan to address the findings of the all-Ireland health study. The Department of Health has refused to develop core recommendations to develop an action plan to address the findings of the study. The Traveller health budget has been decimated both pre-austerity and following it. The criminal aspect is that it was used to balance the HSE's books in 2006 and 2007 and the legacy continues today. There are not enough resources to address the Traveller health inequalities.

The third issue relates to the new directorates being set up in the health service. The national Traveller health advisory committee has not met since last October because we are not allowed to meet owing to the row about the lack of an action plan. This is disgraceful in terms of human rights and the matter must be addressed.

The mental health issues have been well documented. To relate them back to ethnicity, one of the practical implications in the denial of Traveller ethnicity is the mindset of many civil servants at both national and local level where the default mechanism is one of assimilation. The Traveller accommodation budget has not even been drawn down. Even in times of austerity there is an underspend and many Travellers are forced into private rented accommodation and dispersed. Young women with children live in apartment blocks and are totally isolated. They miss their mothers, sisters, aunts and cousins. All of this has a big impact on mental health.

A big issue that emerged in the all-Ireland Traveller health study was the level of trust. Approximately 40% of Travellers had trust in the health service, while the level among the general population was 84%. Many issues arise in terms of access and quality of service. The big challenge is the outcomes from services. The way to address this is to have an ethnic identifier across all administrative systems in order that we can see what is happening in education, health and the provision of accommodation and the outcomes. We do not have that information. The danger is that Travellers will be excluded if the ethic identifier has to be introduced under data developments at a European level because they are not recognised as an ethnic group. There are huge practical reasons for the recognition of Traveller ethnicity, not just legal or ideological but also practical reasons that affect their human rights on a daily basis.