Colette Kelleher (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone very much. We have had a very long session but we have had long meetings on other important topics. We have held three meetings on mental health, two on health, four on education and we will have four meetings on employment. We are having these meetings because all of these elements are interconnected. Accommodation will be the final module that we will consider. We will tell how it is but we will make very direct recommendations while acknowledging that some positive things are happening. It is the scale of the challenge and of all of those areas that is arresting. All of us, as committee members, have been shocked anew by the level of disparity between the settled community and Travellers access to education and health, the impact of mental ill health, and employment. It is shocking that there is an 80% unemployment rate among Travellers at a time we, as an economy, enjoy full employment. All of these issues must be addressed and taken seriously.

I thank the Minister of State for attending. I also thank the representatives of the Department, AONTAS, the ETBs, the HEA and NALA for their attendance.