Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The action plan will be published in the coming weeks. It will certainly be published by September, if not sooner. The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, informs me that it will be September at the latest. Funding is a matter for the HSE and the Department of Health when they set out their priorities in the Estimates process. That process will get under way in the next number of weeks. The Government policy in this regard is clear. If we are going to publish a health action plan for Travellers, it will need to be resourced and we will do the very best we can to make sure it is adequately resourced and can be implemented. We acknowledge the very serious health issues the Travelling community are facing with regard to life expectancy, mental health challenges, addiction challenges and so on. We will do the best we can to ensure the plan is properly funded.

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