Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome representatives and members of the Traveller community in the Public Gallery this evening. Discrimination against Travellers is an all too regular occurrence and generally accepted within society. Comments such as "sure aren't they just Irish" and "why don't they just live in houses" are commonplace and are probably some of the more mature comments one is likely to hear. Couple that with the derogatory words used to distinguish them from settled society and it is not easy listening.

Nomadism, or the wish to move around, is an integral part of what it means to be Traveller. In 1963, Travellers became part of a political discourse, one that viewed their culture as that of wrongdoers. There was a huge political push to coerce members of the Traveller community into assimilating into Irish society, thus allowing a distinguishing part of their culture to fade into the abyss. From that year, to the present day, there have been efforts by successive Governments to advance this approach in the hope that Travellers, as the word implies, would fall into place and assimilate or insert themselves into the cracks and travel no more. This is evident in the institutional discrimination that exists within the policies in these Houses.

All of these attempts have failed and have isolated as well as disenfranchised a lot of people within the Traveller community. It is the whole concept of cause and effect. The failure to recognise their status as a nomadic group of people with a particular lifestyle has left the waters somewhat muddied. I do not deny for one minute that there are problems within the Traveller community but much like any other group, one will always have a percentage of those who will do wrong in the eyes of the law. We in settled society are not expected to speak out on these issues that occur and yet a double standard seems to apply when it comes to Travellers.

It is when this wrong is done in accordance with a long-standing culture dating back well before policy ever existed that it becomes a fundamental flaw within policy and those who construct it. Take for example the "illegal" parking on roadsides or in unused spaces. Why is it that Government cannot provide spaces for Travellers to live in - a space with clean running water and basic electricity that has something above a Third World standard of human waste disposal facilities? The Government should be providing these facilities in every county and should uphold basic human rights.

Travellers' health has suffered severely as a result of long-term Government policy. Traveller men live on average ten years less than settled men while Traveller women live on average 12 years less than their settled peers. With regards to mental health, the suicide rate within the Traveller community is six times higher than that of the settled community.

Education allows people to become empowered. Home schooling or a home school liaison service is a reality for many children, so why not adapt this in a way that suits another type of lifestyle and culture? This in turn can only have positive effects on society as a whole. Education does not just stop at Travellers. The wider population also needs to educate itself in what it means to be a Traveller, and understand, without prejudice, the Traveller culture.

The Equal Status Act 2000 recognised members of the Traveller community as a group not to be discriminated against under the nine grounds of discrimination, although this is largely yet to become evident in practical terms. Traveller culture, and its origins, must be understood and respected. It is only then that we can come together and tackle the social isolation, mental health issues and the criminalisation of a culture.

Not too long ago we had a vote on the human rights and equal status of citizens of our country in the form the marriage equality referendum. We cannot cherrypick those who deserve equality and those who do not: the essence of equality is the fair treatment of everyone. It is time for this House to recognise Travellers as a minority ethnic group.

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