Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 December 2018
300. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health his plans to address the crisis in Traveller suicide in view of the final report on the Future of Mental Health; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53515/18]
View answer301. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if resources will be allocated to address the disproportionate rate of suicide in the Traveller community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53517/18]
View answer302. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if consideration has been given to proposals to establish a specific Traveller mental strategy with allocated resources; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53518/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 300 to 302, inclusive, together.
I am aware of the challenges faced by the Traveller community, having visited Pavee Point in May 2018 and launched an Evaluation Report of the Traveller Cultural Awareness Training programme in Kilkenny in October.
One of the goals of Connecting for Life - Ireland’s National Strategy to Reduce Suicide, which runs from 2015 to 2020, is to target approaches to reduce suicidal behaviour and improve mental health amongst particular high-risk groups. Members of the Traveller community are recognised in this strategy as being one of the priority groupings most vulnerable to suicide.
To address this issue, targeted mental health and stigma reduction campaigns are in development for the Travelling community. To date, this has involved focus group testing of the national mental health Little Things campaign messaging with traveller groups. Based on this process, the National Office for Suicide Prevention will further develop the communication campaigns using appropriate messaging and media channels for this target population group. The Samaritans (funded under the Connecting for Life strategy) are also working at a local level to promote their service to this priority group.
In addition, the HSE and Primary Care Social Inclusion currently funds Exchange House Ireland to deliver targeted health programmes. This includes two suicide prevention projects targeting the Traveller Community; the National Traveller Suicide Prevention Service and Travelling to Wellbeing.
Exchange House Ireland provides a range of services and supports to approximately 8,000 Travellers annually. The National Office for Suicide Prevention commissioned a review of the projects (2016-2017) in line with its goal to build the evidence base in support of targeted initiatives for priority groups, and to further inform its role in funding suicide prevention initiatives and establish how the existing projects align with the Connecting for Life strategy.
The Department of Justice and Equality led on the development of the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy. The strategy provides 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 emerged in the consultation process for the strategy such as accommodation, employment, health and education. The strategy, published in June 2017, includes agreed actions aiming to improve the health of travellers.
The Oversight Group working on the refresh of the Vision for Change national mental health policy proposes that policy changes will benefit all those engaging with mental health services. The Terms of Reference for the Group place a particular emphasis on social inclusion and the needs of vulnerable groups, including the Traveller community, which will be incorporated into the final report with a focus on reducing stigma and discrimination. Therefore, it is not proposed to have a separate traveller specific mental health strategy report.
