Traveller Mental Health Action Plan will be published next year
A new specialist group for traveller mental health will aim to address complex needs within the community while ensuring equity in access to services.
The group, which will be formally established in the autumn, will be tasked with developing a Traveller Mental Health Action Plan, for publication next year. The plan will fall under the Government’s ‘Sharing the Vision’ mental health strategy.
Minister Butler said:
“The mental health needs of the Traveller community remain of significant concern, with persistent disparities in mental health outcomes, access to services, and culturally appropriate supports,” said Minister for Mental Health Mary Butler.
“These challenges have been well-documented in national and community-based research, and they underscore the urgent need for targeted, informed, and sustained action.
“I have overseen increases in funding for Traveller mental health in successive Budgets as the Minister for Mental Health, and now I wish to see Traveller mental health fully embedded in the policy delivery structures of Sharing the Vision, through the work of a dedicated Specialist Group.”
The specialist group will alongside the HSE-chaired National Traveller and Roma Mental Health Working Group, and will report directly to the National Implementation and Monitoring Committee for Sharing the Vision.
The development comes after a new cross-government group was convened to coordinate mental health policy.
The steering group has been established to ensure that mental health considerations are embedded across all areas of public policy.
The meeting brought together representatives from 14 government departments, along with the HSE, Mental Health Commission and the OPW.
The session was chaired by Siobhán McArdle, assistant secretary for social care, mental health, and unscheduled care at the Department of Health.
Meanwhile, the inaugural meeting of the National Mental Health Research Strategy Implementation and Oversight Group took place as the Department of Health formally begins to implement Ireland’s first National Mental Health Research Strategy.
Published last December, the strategy’s implementation will be overseen by the group, which brings together representatives from government departments, state agencies, service providers, clinicians, academic researchers, and individuals with lived experience of mental health challenges.
“Mental health touches all of our lives, and high-quality, timely research is key to making real, lasting improvements in how we shape policy and how we support people through their journeys,” said Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.
“With strategic implementation, the new research strategy will have an invaluable impact on enhancing the quality and relevance of mental health research in Ireland. The implementation and oversight group will be at the heart of this work, helping to ensure that every step we take is grounded in purpose and guided by evidence.”
