A Traveller Mental Health working group has been formed at the Department of Health to ensure that mental health actions for the Traveller community are implemented.
The new group has representatives from HSE Mental Health, the National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP), HSE Engagement and Recovery and Social Inclusion, along with representation from Traveller Organisations providing mental health supports according to the department.
Responding to a protest by members of the Traveller community, organised by the National Traveller Mental Health Network, the Department of Health said the Traveller Health Action Plan (THAP) was launched in November 2022, to address the health inequalities faced by Travellers and difficulties they may face in accessing healthcare services.
The department pointed out that the HSE had been working with Traveller organisations to provide a variety of mental health supports and interventions.
"In 2023, €300,000 in ringfenced funding was secured to support Traveller mental health services, in conjunction with the implementation of the Traveller Health Action Plan. This funding is recurring and is in addition to funding already allocated to NGOs working in this area," it said.
The statement also said that Minister of State for Mental Health Mary Butler secured funding in Budget 2024 to include "enhancements" to suicide prevention and postvention services through the expansion of the Suicide Bereavement Liaison Service; and to roll-out the Traveller Counselling Service nationwide.
The response from the department comes after protesters called for immediate political action to address the living conditions and mental health difficulties being experienced by the Traveller community.
They said there had been a failure by successive governments to address the situation.
The group pointed out that research reports, recommendations, promises and commitments continue to go unimplemented while the indigenous ethnic minority group is condemned to live in "deplorable conditions" with no hope due to institutionalised racism and a lack of political will.
The most recent Behaviour and attitudes study shows that 82% of Travellers have been affected by suicide and in some areas, this rose to 90%.
Around 44% of those affected experienced family members or wider family members die from suicide.
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Up to 90% of those surveyed agreed that mental health was a problem among the Traveller community.
Earlier, organiser of the group Mags Casey said the scale of the mental health problem is beyond a crisis.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, she said as a community Travellers "actually have had enough".
She said: "I think we need Irish society to understand what's happening with our own indigenous people in Ireland for the last decade.
"And I suppose we need political change, and we need the people in power and we need the Irish society to stand beside us now to bring about real change for our people."
She said that every year that is supposed to be spent on Travellers actually goes unspent. Ms Casey said that is no longer tolerated by the community.
"We need an investment in our children so that we can actually keep them alive," she added.
Senator Eileen Flynn, who took part in the protest, said it was held to show Government that this issue was not going to go away.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime she said that there is a mental health crisis within the Traveller community but the solutions are there to deal with it that do not ask for an awful lot, rather it's "basic human rights".
She suggested that the Government could stand by promises made in the Programme for Government in the standalone Traveller strategy, which has 84 recommendations.
Senator Flynn said the political will was not there to do so, but lots of the recommendations were doable and called for accountability from the Government.
She added that she had many friends who passed away through suicide and addiction, and through that Travellers have trauma and issues as a community. Education was also key, she said, but there appeared to be no action from those in charge.
