Traveller health report gives strong backing to permanent local investment

A new Oireachtas report on Traveller health and mental health gives strong national backing to the kind of community-led work already underway in County Clare through Clare Traveller CDP and the Clare Traveller Primary Health Care Project. The report was produced by the Joint Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community and sets out 69 recommendations across health, mental health, discrimination, accommodation, education, employment, and service access.

The report’s central finding is that Traveller health inequality is not accidental or short term. It describes a pattern of racism, discrimination, and systemic neglect that has damaged trust and contributed to poorer health outcomes, including lower life expectancy and serious mental health pressures.

For Clare, the findings are especially relevant because CLDC hosts both the Clare Traveller Community Development Project and the Clare Traveller Primary Health Care Project. The Traveller CDP aims to improve living conditions, opportunities, and human rights for Travellers in Clare through stronger alliances, Traveller leadership, and a stronger Traveller voice, while the PHCP works to improve health outcomes and quality of life through a peer-led community development model.

One of the clearest messages in the report is that government must move away from short-term thinking. Among the key recommendations are permanent and ringfenced funding for Traveller health and mental health, national support for Primary Health Care Projects, and annual parliamentary accountability so that progress is publicly measured rather than left to fade after publication.

That matters on the ground in Clare. Local Traveller-led programmes do not just provide services; they build trust, increase uptake of health supports, strengthen leadership, and help bridge the gap between statutory services and the Traveller community. CLDC’s PHCP is delivered by members of the Travelling community and focuses on health promotion, dialogue with services, and practical support across issues including cardiovascular health, diabetes, and mental health.

The report also strengthens the case for long-term funding of community development work, not only health delivery. Clare Traveller CDP is funded through the Department of Rural and Community Development and is designed to tackle inequality and support rights, participation, and local leadership. Its health programme also states that capacity building of Traveller staff and volunteers, acting as information providers and peer support workers, is central to ensuring that health and wellbeing actions are community-centred and community-driven.

There is also recent regional evidence of the value of this model. A new Mid West addiction-awareness campaign launched in June brought together Traveller Primary Healthcare Projects in Clare, Limerick, and North Tipperary with HSE and addiction services, and highlighted Traveller Community Health Workers as the peer workers who bridge the gap between mainstream services and their community.

Taken together, the national report and local experience point in the same direction: effective Traveller health and community development work depends on permanent, ringfenced investment in Traveller-led structures rather than repeated reliance on temporary pilot schemes. The report gives local organisations in Clare a strong policy basis to argue that continuity of funding is essential if trust, participation, prevention, and better outcomes are to be sustained.

Brid Brady, CLDC Traveller Primary Healthcare Co-ordinator concurs saying, “Permanent funding for the Traveller Primary Healthcare Project is not an expense , it is an investment in illness prevention and healthier futures . Sustained support ensures that Traveller communities continue to receive culturally appropriate care , reduce health inequalities and build stronger , healthier generations.”