Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My views on this subject are well known. I commend the witnesses on their presentation. The human rights and legal framework for this, domestically and internationally, is watertight. It cannot be argued with. It is that simple. I invite anybody to argue the case against it, as there is no case against it. We will develop that as the hearings proceed. We will see if it can be argued against, but that is my analysis at this point. However, there is a far more important question than my analysis. The transcript of these proceedings will be produced and perhaps could be circulated to a wider audience, particularly the Minister for Justice and Equality. Will the witnesses take us through the history of the Traveller people? What is their history over hundreds of years of nomadism? I have read a number of books in the recent past but we have not yet had this conversation. It might be helpful if the witnesses would discuss the history of the Traveller people, how they are connected to this island over hundreds of years, their nomadism and how it evolved and how we as a people evolved into an urbanised, settled people, because we all emanated from the same place originally.