Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 7 November 2023

Committee on Mental Health

Mental Health Care for Migrants and Ethnic Minorities: Discussion

Mr. Patrick Reilly:

I will wrap up this point. It goes back to the national Traveller health action plan that was launched last November. There is a national implementation group attached to that. This goes back to the point that, as regards the implementation, it is great to have that group but it cannot be left just to the implementation group or to the people here to follow through on the implementation. It needs the whole approach I spoke about. It is the stuff we have all talked about. Ms Coyle and I met this morning, we had a cup of coffee and a chat, and it was ironic that the similarities across the groups are such that we could nearly represent one another. Mental Health Reform does that really well in that it is not left just to us to lobby and advocate on issues that are impacting our community. We need that solidarity. It is a case of nothing about us without us and, again, not leaving it just to us to highlight, challenge and raise.