Mr. Patrick Nevin:

I want to respond to Senator Ruane, as well as to the point that 1963 is a long time ago. It may be, but Travellers are living with the consequences of that document. It was the blueprint for what was to follow, namely, 50 years of assimilation and absorption, 50 years of denial of one's identity, denial of who we were as a people. Travellers were informed at a State level, an institutional level, a local level and a community level, that they were failed settled people. All the statistics relating to Travellers show this in terms of health, mental health, suicide and education. Some 92% of Traveller women have left second-level education, primarily before gaining a leaving certificate. The figure for Traveller men is 95%. That is clear indication of the consequences of people being denied their entire way of life and who they are. While 1963 may be a long time ago, I use that particular date because that is the date when the State officially set about its course of absorption and assimilation of Travellers.

On ethnicity, 1 March 2017 was a wonderful, fantastic day, with the then Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, standing up in the Dáil and acknowledging Traveller ethnicity. However, it has to go further. We have to discuss the issue of reparations to repair the damage suffered by Travellers at an individual level and a community level. Senator Kelleher asked me for some recommendations. I have a few. Most of them are quite basic. We need a culturally appropriate primary school programme and the reinstatement of resource teachers for Travellers. In 2011, the entire Traveller education budget was cut. If there is one thing I am really keen on, it is something aimed at Traveller men, something that supports them to take pride in who they are and their culture.

It has to be specific training projects for young Traveller men. Traveller organisations should be resourced to develop a national network committed to supporting Traveller men in engaging in culturally appropriate education initiatives. The State must acknowledge its part, and the institutions' roles, in the denigration of a people and their way of life. I do not want to harp on about this too much but it is key. My father, who passed away quite recently, said to me that, prior to 1973, the majority of Travellers did not depend on social welfare. They were independent, self-reliant and self-resourced. Albeit hard and arduous, they were a self-sufficient people. Within a space of ten years, from 1963 onwards, we became the very parasites that in some cases we have had politicians accusing us of being. The State must acknowledge its role in that. We must address it and reparations must be a key element of that.