Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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73. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to review the outdated Traveller health strategy and to develop a new strategy with a particular focus on mental health. [13723/16]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Connecting for Life, Ireland’s National Strategy to reduce Suicide 2015 - 2020, sets out a vision where fewer lives are lost through suicide, and where communities and individuals are empowered to improve their mental health and well-being. Connecting for Life involves preventive and awareness-raising work with the population as a whole, supportive work with local communities and targeted approaches to priority groups. Members of the Traveller community are identified as a priority group. The two objectives of the strategy are:

- Reduced suicide rate in the whole population and amongst specified priority groups; and

- Reduced rate of presentations of self-harm in the whole population and amongst specified priority groups.

There are no current plans to update the All Ireland Traveller Health survey. The Deputy will be aware that the Department of Justice and Equality is leading on the development of a new National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy. The Strategy aims to provide a set of specific actions that need to be taken to bring about a real improvement in quality of life for Travellers and Roma. A number of cross-cutting themes have emerged in the consultation process for the Strategy such as accommodation, employment, health and education. It is intended that the Strategy will include agreed actions in relation to improving the health of travellers. The Strategy is expected to be completed in 2016 and will cover the period up to 2020.