Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentation. I am sorry I was delayed. This is an important issue. I get the sense that the Roma people - I understand there are 15 million of them across Europe - are people that nobody wants as a result of which they are poorly treated wherever they go. My understanding is that there are approximately 5,000 Roma in Ireland. Pavee Point has been dealing with this issue for a number of years. What is the witnesses' sense of a national strategy or policy response to the issue of the Roma community, their needs and entitlements? What must be done for them? Is it the case that the State effectively wants the issue to go away or pretend it does not exist? Has anything ever been written down on paper that suggested how to address the wants, needs and requirements of the Roma community?

Deputy Ó Snodaigh touched on the EU-wide context and that we have the Presidency. Am I right in understanding that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, suggested that one of the priorities for our term is how the EU would tackle this issue? The witnesses might comment on that.

Ireland has reported to the United Nations on our progress this year on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In terms of Roma children being punished because of this State's instinctive distrust - that might be too strong a statement but it probably is accurate - of the Roma community, what implications will that have regarding the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the report the State must make to the UN?