Neasa Hourigan
Question:1692. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health the progress made since 27 June 2020 to develop a Traveller and Roma mental health action plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18685/21]
View answerWednesday, 21 April 2021
Questions (1692)
Written answers
The national mental health policy, ‘Sharing the Vision’, makes a series of recommendations that will improve mental health outcomes for the whole community, including the Traveller and Roma community. ‘Sharing the Vision’ recognises the particular issues faced by different priority groups with respect to mental health and the policy will address these by implementing recommendations that are designed to individualise services to the needs of the user by taking account of his or her unique socio-economic and cultural background.
One of the priority groups specifically mentioned in “Sharing the Vision” is the Traveller community. It is envisaged that Traveller and Roma representation will engage in a significant way with Sharing the Vision’s National Implementation and Monitoring Committee to ensure that the implementation of ‘Sharing the Vision’ will maximise beneficial outcomes for Travellers and Roma.
Government policy strategy for improving the lives of Traveller and Roma communities is outlined in the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy. The strategy is a cross-departmental initiative and contains a set of specific actions aimed at improving the situation for Traveller and Roma communities in Ireland. The Strategy includes 10 actions relating to mental health and suicide among Travellers. There is also an action under NTRIS to implement a detailed action plan to address the specific health needs of Travellers, using a social determinants approach.
It is envisaged that the mental health actions in NTRIS will be incorporated in the Traveller health action plan and will be aligned with the overall approach in Sharing the Vision. This will allow for an integrated and coordinated response to the specific health needs of Travellers, as outlined in NTRIS.
I will continue to engage with my colleague Minister of State Butler, who is response for mental health, to ensure there is an holistic response to the health needs of Travellers and Roma.