Eileen Flynn (Independent)
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The Traveller community is facing a mental health crisis. This is not the first time I have raised the issue in the House. The previous Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, former Deputy Jim Daly, recognised more than two years ago that there was a mental health crisis among the members of the Traveller community. The programme for Government promised a national Traveller mental health strategy. We are now two years into this Government's term. Without meaning any disrespect to the Minister of State, she is the wrong person for me to be talking to about this. I would have loved to have the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, here today. However, I will approach the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, with a question. Where is that strategy? Where are we now in that regard? This is a matter of life and death. The signs of a mental health crisis are all around us. It is devastating and heartbreaking. The suicide rate is six times higher for Traveller women and seven times higher for Traveller men compared with the general population.These studies were done in 2008. We need updated research on the rate of suicide within our community. Some 82% of Travellers have been affected by suicide. We all know someone who has died by suicide. More than half of Travellers reported that poor physical and mental health restricts their normal daily activities. These are not just statistics; these are people. As the Minister of State knows, the Traveller community experiences a great level of racism and exclusion. This has a dramatic impact on people's mental health, self-esteem, etc.

I stood with our community outside Leinster House on UN Human Rights Day in December. Once again we were making the one call - for action around Traveller mental health. The report of the Joint Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community called for the establishment of a national Traveller mental health strategy. That recommendation came from the National Traveller Mental Health Network, a collective of Traveller individuals and organisations across the island. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has met with the network and attended the launch of the national Traveller mental health submission. The recommendation is rooted in the Traveller experience and puts Traveller voices at the heart of the conversation around Traveller mental health. This is what we need. This is about our access. It is already included in the recommendations. We need a national Traveller mental health strategy; a ring-fenced budget for this critical work; and a national Traveller mental health steering group. We need the vital experienced voices of the Traveller community from the National Traveller Mental Health Network and we need a timeframe for the actions to make sure the work gets done.

In 2006, A Vision for Change called for culturally inclusive mental health services. Years later, Traveller mental health has gotten worse. I fear that including Traveller mental health in 2020's Sharing the Vision did not give the crisis the focus it needs to turn the tide. This is a national crisis within the Traveller community. The solution to the crisis cannot be an add-on. The Traveller community needs a tailored, stand-alone mental health strategy to support and resource its needs and we need to make sure it is implemented. We cannot keep waiting for action. We genuinely cannot. Lives are on hold here.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. The Government has long recognised the particular disadvantages the Traveller community faces, and the importance of implementing specific strategies and policies to address these disadvantages. The Government’s approach to improving the lives of the Traveller community is outlined in the national Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy. This is a cross-departmental initiative that contains a set of specific actions aimed at improving the lives of Traveller and Roma communities in Ireland. A key health action in the strategy is to develop and implement a detailed action plan to address the specific health needs of Travellers, using a social determinants approach. The lead role in developing the action plan rests with the HSE social inclusion office, in conjunction with Traveller organisations. The strategy acknowledges that mental health difficulties and the increased risk of suicide are significant issues caused by many social determinants. It includes ten actions specifically relating to mental health and suicide among Travellers. These are being addressed as part of the comprehensive health action plan. It is envisaged that the mental health actions in the national Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy will be incorporated in the Traveller health action plan and will be aligned with the overall approach in our national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision. This will allow for an integrated and co-ordinated response to the specific health needs of Travellers. That is exactly what the Senator has outlined. I could be wrong but she said the Traveller community needs its own particular strategy. While the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, agrees with that, she says it needs to be part of and aligned with the national strategy.

Sharing the Vision and Connecting for Life also recognise Travellers as a priority group. Both recognise the vulnerability to, and increased risk, of mental health issues and suicidal behaviour for Travellers and that these should be considered in the way mental health services are delivered to Travellers. Sharing the Vision contains a series of recommendations to improve the mental health outcomes for the whole community. The policy places the individual at the heart of service delivery and contains recommendations for services to address and accommodate the specific needs and unique socioeconomic and cultural background of individual service users. The policy seeks to provide mental health services that recognise and respond to diversity, and advocates maximising the delivery of diverse and culturally competent mental health supports throughout all services, to respond to the needs of specific groups.

Importantly, individuals representing the Traveller community and other ethnic minority communities were appointed to the specialist group panel to support the national implementation and monitoring committee and will provide specialist input at various points in the implementation of the policy. Members of the Traveller community feature across many objectives and actions in Ireland’s national strategy to reduce suicide, Connecting for Life. They are strongly represented in 17 localised versions of the strategy, which are now in place across the country. Many of these have local Traveller groups and representatives on their implementation or oversight groups. With support from the HSE National Office for Suicide Prevention, Exchange House provides a range of Traveller-specific mental health and suicide prevention services to the Traveller community. In addition, the HSE has Traveller co-ordinators in each CHO area to assist members of the Traveller community in their interactions with the HSE.

As the Senator acknowledged, last December, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, launched the ethnic minorities and mental health revised guidelines for mental health services and staff on working with people from ethnic minority communities. The guidelines aim to ensure equitable access to appropriate services and supports for everyone in Ireland. They are designed to assist mental health services and staff who work with people from ethnic minority communities in the delivery of culturally competent mental health services. I hope that answered some of the Senator's questions.

Eileen Flynn (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State. She is here on behalf of Deputy Butler. She said individuals have sat on that advisory group but it is not even a permanent structure. In the programme for Government we were promised a stand-alone mental health strategy. Unfortunately, we have not gotten the answers we needed today. I am not doing this for Eileen Flynn; I am doing this on behalf of the National Traveller Mental Health Network. When are the Government and the Minister going to honour what they committed to in the programme for Government? There is no end in sight for the mental health crisis within our community. Surely there needs to be accountability for the lack of action while members of our community die by suicide on a daily basis. Unfortunately, there is no satisfaction to be had from the Minister of State's reply to our community here today. It is really sad. There is no accountability for the actions promised in the programme for Government. It is not the Minister of State's fault; it is the lack of political will within the Department.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I again thank the Senator. I appreciate that she is not doing this on her own behalf but on behalf of the Traveller community. When I leave here today I will ask Deputy Butler to meet with the Senator to discuss this matter. As she recognised, I am not Deputy Butler so I am not in charge of the entire brief but I will facilitate a meeting between her and the Senator to address the actions that have been laid out.

Eileen Flynn (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for her time.