447. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Health the additional funding that will be provided for supports for Traveller families in the event of bereavement, a death by suicide of a family member; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23107/26]

448. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Health her plans to provide dedicated funding in developing youth mental health pilot projects to meet the needs of young members of the Traveller community who are vulnerable to suicide; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23108/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 447 and 448 together.

The Traveller Community are recognised as a priority group in national mental health strategies such as Sharing the Vision and the National Suicide and self-harm Prevention Strategy - Connecting for Life, Travellers experience disproportionately high levels of mental health difficulties and suicide rates.

Connecting for Life (CfL) is Ireland’s national suicide reduction strategy, which came to an end in 2024. It’s successor policy will be launched shortly. It has had strong cross-departmental support from areas including, Justice, Education, Higher Education, Agriculture and Social Protection. Connecting for Life has provided Ireland with a very robust, evidence-based policy on suicide reduction.

Connecting for Life has positioned Ireland as a leader in suicide prevention, and the approach adopted in CfL has been emulated in several countries. The OECD’s 2023 Country Health Profile for Ireland partly attributed reductions in suicide to Connecting for Life and the comprehensive, cross government approach to suicide prevention adopted in Ireland.

Permanent improvements to suicide prevention for Travellers specifically under Connecting for Life include:

• Enhanced community level responses to suicide among Travellers, through local action plans and the network of Resource Officers for Suicide Prevention (ROSPs).

• Enhanced bereavement and crisis support services, including culturally appropriate services for Travellers

• Funding of the Exchange House Ireland Mental Health Service for Travellers

• Development of targeted campaigns to reduce stigma associated with self-harm and suicide.

• Development of co-produced training and education materials.

• Establishment of a National Monitoring System for deaths by suicide among Travellers.

• Enhanced investment into research on specific interventions for Travellers.

• Specific SCAN posts for Travellers to manage self-harm presentations through the National Clinical Programme for Self-Harm and Suicide-related Ideation (NCPSHSI).

In relation to funding, additional funding has been provided annually to address Traveller mental health, with a priority focus on funding Traveller organisations to co-develop mental health services and supports.

In Budget 2025, significant additional ring-fenced funding of €365,000 was secured By Minister Butler, Minister for Mental Health for Traveller mental health initiatives. Additionally funding of €200,000 for the National Traveller Counselling service which was allocated on a once-off basis for 2024, was mainstreamed under Budget 2025, bringing the total funding for Traveller mental health to €565,000.

An additional €480,000 was allocated by Minister Butler also to support Traveller Mental Health initiatives in 2026, which include co-created Traveller/Roma Led Mental health projects aligned to relevant strategies and action plans and support for the work of the Traveller Mental Health Network, among others. In addition, the HSE National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP) received a record allocation of €16m in 2026 to expand crisis supports and suicide.

To the extent that this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly as soon as possible.