Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I agree with everything Deputy Ó Cuív has said. We have to look at how we can make a difference very quickly and then build on that to get the longer term issues dealt with. I agree that, in conjunction with Pavee Point and other organisations, we must look at what provisions we can insert in the planning and development legislation to reflect the needs of the community.

I am delighted to meet the representatives from Cena today. I have read about them, what they do and their role. It sounds really good and the results to date have been good. If we have Traveller-specific accommodation within developments, would that result in the Traveller community being ostracised? Is Traveller-specific housing much different from the other housing that would be built in a large-scale development? I would like to get some feedback on that because it is an issue that those who do not want any development for Travellers could use against positive regulations we would seek to bring in.

It struck me that 63% of Travellers do not have a bank account. That is an absolutely dire situation for the Traveller community. Has MABS spoken to the credit unions about taking on members of the Traveller community? I am in the credit union in An Post, where I used to work, and it is a very good way for people to save a little bit and then build on that to get loans from the credit union. Credit unions have a much better attitude towards dealing with people individually than the banks would have.

Deputy Ó Cuív spoke about rent, and even loans, being based on income, as would be the case with local authority housing, rather than having a fixed rent. I fully agree. That could be a way to get more members of the Traveller community involved in banking through a credit union. Maybe MABS has done that already. Even if one, two or three credit unions around the country did this, it could make a difference for the community.

Mr. Collins referred to the development legislation. It will be another three or four years before work starts on the next development plan. Is there some way we can include in that development plan an alignment of Traveller-specific housing? This is very important because if we that in the development plan, it would copperfasten or extend Part 8 to include a percentage of Traveller-specific accommodation. Do the witnesses agree with that? What are their views on it? There are 1,600 Traveller families homeless. What percentage of the Traveller community do these families account for? It must be fairly high.

Have the representatives from Cena met the Traveller committees in Dublin City Council and the other three Dublin councils? The Dublin City Council committee is very positive about trying to get accommodation. If Cena has met the committees, what has been the feedback? If not, it should make contact with them to work towards a greater commitment on the delivery of homes.