Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach and I thank the Minister of State for personally attending the House this morning. It means a great deal because the last time I did this Commencement matter, the Minister of State, unfortunately, could not make it. In April 2022, a year and a few months ago, I stood in this House to raise the exact same Commencement matter with the exact same questions. Obviously, I will change it around a little bit. I say to the Minister of State that we are failing Travellers when it comes to mental health. The Traveller community has asked for a ring-fenced budget and a stand-alone national Traveller strategy. I know that there are six stand-alone actions for the Traveller community. The Minister of State knows as well as I do the level of the crisis within our community. The response, unfortunately, is not enough.

One of the recommendations of the Traveller committee around mental health is to have that stand-alone strategy and to have the ring-fenced budget for the Traveller community around mental health. Since I did this Commencement matter I know on a personal level of five members of the Traveller community who have died by suicide. We need support for the Traveller community which is focused and will have outcomes for our community. I know that in budget 2023, €300,000 was allocated from the Minister of State's Department to Traveller mental health services. While we welcome it and it was the first time in history for us to get money for Traveller mental health, that will not cover two good counsellors for mental health within the Traveller community.

Again, we are not asking for special treatment. I see this on the ground and I am standing here today coming from a meeting which the Minister of State had with the National Traveller Mental Health Network. While we welcome that meeting, the network came away feeling very disheartened and that the political will was not there. We know from years of campaigning that we are recognised as an ethnic minority group and that was not something that was handed to us easily. We had to work for that for at least 30 years in order to be recognised in our own country as a minority group, which we are, and as an indigenous group of this country.

Keeping the focus on mental health, I know the Minister of State is trying her best. However, it is not enough. Next Monday the National Traveller Mental Health Network is launching a report around the need for a mental health phone line for members of the community which they can call because of the need for an out-of-hours service.

My questions to the Minister of State is very simple. What are the updates on Traveller mental health, how was the €300,000 which was allocated in the last budget spent, and what is next? Can we please have what we were promised, which is our Traveller national mental health strategy?