Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 January 2019
581. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Travellers are six times more likely to die from suicide than those in the settled community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54260/18]
View answer582. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the national Traveller health action plan and national Traveller suicide prevention project; and if 5% of funding from the mental health budget will be ring-fenced in order that its vision for a change of policy on mental health will be applied in a culturally sensitive way. [54261/18]
View answer584. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health the timeframe to implement and give effect to the Traveller action plan and suicide prevention strategy. [54263/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 581, 582 and 584 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 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.
The Department of Justice and Equality led on the development of the new National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy which was published in June 2017. The Strategy contains a set of specific actions aimed at improving the situation for Traveller and Roma communities in Ireland, including agreed health-related actions. The HSE is developing a detailed action plan on Traveller health as one of the commitments in the Strategy.
I understand the draft action plan is being finalised by the HSE.
