Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Chairman for the invitation to come before the committee. I welcome the establishment of the committee and look forward to seeing its work unfold over the coming months.

Having engaged with the Traveller community at numerous events, visits and launches in recent years, I am acutely aware of the need for continued support for the community. On 9 October, I had the honour of being asked to launch Pavee Point's world mental health day exhibition, Unpacking Traveller Mental Health, which highlighted the specific experiences of the Traveller community. From these meetings with Traveller community organisations and representatives advocating on their behalf, it has become increasingly clear that suicide and mental health are issues of growing concern within the Traveller community. I noted with sadness the recent contribution from Bernard Joyce of the Irish Traveller Movement to the committee.

It is accepted that suicide rates are higher among the Traveller community when compared with those in the general population. To try to address this, the Traveller community was included as one of 23 priority groups at risk of increased risk of suicide under Connecting for Life, Ireland's national strategy to reduce suicide. Connecting for Life is a national and local strategy, with 17 local plans launched throughout the country. Progress under the national strategy is overseen by an implementation and steering group comprising cross-departmental and agency representatives. Each local plan involves local teams, including a resource officer for suicide prevention, local HSE staff, members of the Garda, county and city councillors, local community groups and others as relevant. Furthermore, A Vision for Change, Ireland's overarching mental health policy document acknowledges the importance of specific service developments for vulnerable groups, including the Traveller community.

The 2010 all-Ireland Traveller health study commissioned by the Department of Health continues to provide the benchmark for measuring progress on Traveller health. It found that approximately 60% of Traveller men and women said their mental health was not good enough for one or more days out of the past 30 compared to approximately 20% in the general population. The health inequalities experienced by the Traveller community are rooted in the social determinants of health that encompass accommodation, education and employment.

Despite the reported higher levels of ill mental health, take up of mental health support services in the Traveller community remains lower than the general population. The fundamental challenge of members of the community dying younger, having more illnesses and being at greater risk of substance misuse and mental health issues remains. Addressing this challenge is a priority for the Government.

The national Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy was launched in 2017 and contains 34 actions assigned directly to the HSE or the Department of Health. The strategy contains a set of specific actions aimed at improving the lives of the Traveller and Roma communities in Ireland. A key action of the strategy is to develop and implement a detailed action plan to address the health needs of the Traveller community. The lead role in developing this action plan rests with the HSE. A draft plan has been circulated and work is ongoing to finalise the plan. Responsibility for this action plan lies with the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne. The Minister of State and the Department are fully committed to ensuring the implementation of the plan.

More generally, since 2012 the budget allocation for HSE mental health services has increased from €711 million to almost €1 billion, which is an increase of approximately 27%. The Department of Health and the HSE have been developing several e-mental health initiatives targeted at increasing access to services for difficult-to-reach groups, including the Traveller community. These initiatives include telepsychiatry and telecounselling pilots, a new accessible website, yourmentalhealth.ie, the development of a crisis text line and a mental health signposting service in the national ambulance service.

The Department of Health, through the HSE, provides funding in the region of €10 million a year for programmes specifically targeted at improving health outcomes for the Traveller community, including primary healthcare projects, counselling, dedicated public health nurses, mental health promotion and culturally sensitive suicide prevention services. A further €500,000 is provided through the Dormant Accounts Fund for initiatives aimed at improving Traveller mental health, such as providing mental health community development workers and mental health advocacy workers for Traveller organisations.

The HSE National Office for Suicide Prevention funds Exchange House Ireland to address the mental health promotion and suicide prevention needs of the Traveller community in a culturally sensitive manner.

The Government recognises the need for a sustained effort in addressing mental health inequalities between the Traveller community and the general population.