Urgent action needed to tackle Traveller mental health crisis: Clarke

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Mental Health Deputy Sorca Clarke has called for urgent and targeted action to address the Traveller mental health crisis.

Deputy Clarke said: “I was disappointed to see that in response to my Parliamentary Question to the Minster for Health seeking the most recent statistics on mental health outcomes among the Travelling Community, I was provided with data from the All-Ireland Traveller Health Study (AITHS) that was published in 2010. A study completed more than 15 years ago.

“When the minister can only point to research published in 2010 to describe the mental health reality of the Travelling community today, it tells its own story. It shows how little urgency, attention and political will has been devoted to understanding, let alone addressing the crisis facing the Travelling Community.

“We are talking about a community that experiences suicide at a rate of five to six times higher than the rest of the population. The AITHS reported a Traveller suicide rate of 58 per 100,000. Members of the Travelling Community reported psychological or emotional disability at rates three times higher than the general population in key age groups. The AITHS further reported that 56% of Travellers said their physical and mental health limits their daily life, compared to 24% of the general population.

“When more than half of a community are telling us they cannot live their daily lives without difficulty, we should not respond with tokenism or half-measures.

"Mental health problems within the Travelling Community are systemic of wider problems that Travellers face in accessing appropriate accommodation, education and employment opportunities. Travellers experience racism and exclusion daily. Deficient and substandard living conditions as well as precarious accommodation and homelessness, have a severe detrimental impact on mental health. Lower educational outcomes have a damaging impact on employment opportunities, while chronic unemployment then leads to negative consequences on mental health. These are all preventable problems, yet they have continued to persist.

“Gaps in servcies are well known, the evidence is clear and the Travelling Community has been calling for change for years. What is missing is political will. Behind every statistic, even these outdated ones, are real people.

“Traveller mental health is a national issue. Ignoring it does not make it go away, it only deepens the crisis.

“We need updated national research, properly resourced Traveller led mental health services and a dedicated strategy that confronts discrimination, poverty, accommodation inequality and the other root causes of poor mental health. Anything less is a continuation of neglect."