Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the councils and the Traveller community representatives for their input. An open and frank debate on what is happening is long overdue. I believe the Traveller accommodation programme has not delivered for various reasons. It has been admitted by the three local authorities present that the money has not been drawn down. I raised the issue with the Minister who pointed out that the local authorities were not drawing down the money to deliver on Traveller accommodation. Therefore, it was the Minister who brought this matter to our attention. We have to ask why this is happening. I think we put all our eggs in one basket when dealing with many issues in the Traveller community. When talking about housing accommodation we tend to focus on one in particular. The whole mechanism of getting that money is so archaic that one has to go backwards and forwards to the local government fund. We have to wait period after period and the money is literally running out in this period. The issue I have dealt with for many years is the lack of housing. There is a massive housing crisis for the Traveller community. What we are doing is pushing those people into private rented accommodation or ordinary local authority housing. I am insulted by the word "ordinary" as housing should be specific to the needs of Travellers. That is the purpose for which the money was provided by the Minister, not the money that is being drawn down for other local authority housing. Dublin City Council's budget for maintenance for the whole city last year was an insult to the Traveller community. I realise times are tough but we cannot expect the whole city to be maintained for a small sum of money. We need the regeneration programmes.

Ms Catherine Joyce mentioned St. Mary's in Cappagh field. I am familiar with St. Mary's for the past 15 years. That accommodation is well past its sell-by date and needs to be rebuilt. St. Joseph'sis another example where we have had families. The accommodation has been refurbished but the reality is that there is a need for a regeneration programme and to put Traveller-specific accommodation in place. Some people may want a halting site or group housing. Avila Parkis a very successful group housing scheme. As stated, the McDonald family in Dunsink Lane has been promised accommodation many times. I do not know how many times I have spoken about thisin Fingal in recent years. We built Shelly Parkwhere one family remains in state-of-the-art housing that could be refurbished. I am aware it was with Focus Ireland and I know the whole history of what happened in the area. In Dunsink Lane, the Traveller community was isolated against my wishes and those of politicians and the local authorities. Fingal County Council and Dublin City Council have to answer as to why they agreed to block off and isolate Travellers in Dunsink Lane. It was criminal and caused terrible conflict between the communities which resulted in riots. A community cannot be treated in that way. Dunsink Lane is an archway from Finglas to Castleknock for people who were driving to alleviate traffic but it never made sense. That is the type of discrimination that has been experienced by Traveller communities. A mechanism must be found to draw down the funding much faster and there must be alternatives. We cannot concentrate on one specific area and one specific site on which to work. We must have an alternative to move on rather than get bogged down on one.

The overcrowding issue has reached ridiculous proportions. We have a housing crisis across the board and a major housing crisis in the Traveller community and the issue must be addressed. We have to stand up to some local authorities who send the message that they will not build any more Traveller accommodation. That has happened. Other councillors have acted in a racist manner by targeting Traveller people and their families. That is unacceptable. Unless that mindset is tackled, we will be back here for the next ten years arguing the issue. Nobody disputes there are anti-social behaviour problems. I know there are anti-social behaviour problems in the Traveller community, right across the board, but that is no excuse for not dealing with them. The Garda should be able to deal with families. To put pressure on families to deal with them is to put them in the front line. One would not be asked in any other community to put people on the front line. The Garda was told that the gardaí are the people who will do this. We need to look at the Traveller accommodation programme and draw up a decent plan that makes sense and will deliver because so far it has not delivered.