Mr. Martin Collins:

With regard to Deputy Murphy's point on a national Traveller agency, the Traveller organisations have put a lot of thought into this and tabled proposals to both the Traveller policy division in the Department of Justice and Equality and to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. That was about eight or nine years ago but, while they merited consideration, they were refused out of hand. Given the gravity of the situation in which we find ourselves, I believe it is worth exploring this area again. While there is too much detail to go into here today, we would be willing to explore it further with this committee and others who may be interested.

The Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 only puts a legal obligation on local authorities to carry out an accommodation needs assessment in their catchment area in consultation with Travellers and Traveller organisations. While it is questionable whether that happens, the fundamental issue is that there is no legal obligation to actually implement the plans. That is the problem. There is a legal obligation to adopt a plan, and I have no doubt that, just like on the last three occasions, when coming to the fourth one, every local authority will adopt a plan. However, the problem is that the legislation is quite weak and there is no legal obligation on the local authorities. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and others need to look at this because it is an opt-out clause for local authorities. That is the fundamental issue. In the absence of the implementation of those programmes, there is no sanction on local authorities, so they cannot be held to account. The legislation is very limited and weak, which is an issue we all need to examine.

I heard a lot of points made about anti-social behaviour and criminal activity. Ms Brigid Quilligan from ITM made the point that we do not have a monopoly on that as it exists within every community.

It is important to bear in mind that we are not abdicating our responsibilities in that regard. Many Traveller organisations the length and breadth of the country work with An Garda Síochána, take part in joint policing committees and are on local community safety forums trying to find solutions and strategies to address anti-social behaviour. For example, Pavee Point Traveller Centre worked with Dublin City Council in 2009 because - interestingly for one of the biggest local authorities in the country - the council did not have letting criteria for Traveller-specific accommodation. There was no transparency or accountability to show why one Traveller family was allocated accommodation above another. The council did not have this but it worked with us and we developed letting criteria so Dublin City Council now has a points system for Traveller-specific accommodation. In Finglas we work with the gardaí and Michael Collins, a colleague of mine, works with the local safety forum. Trojan work is happening to try to address these issues.

This conversation, appropriately enough, is taking place during Traveller pride week. We are not playing the victim but we do not want to be confrontational. We want to work in co-operation and partnership with the local authorities because we all have a vested interested in this and want to do the right thing. Last week at the launch of Traveller pride week we were celebrating the achievements of our own people. John Joe Nevin was in attendance in the Pillar Room in the Rotunda, as were Kelly Mongan who came second in "The Voice of Ireland" and the captain of the Irish girls under-17s football team were there. All of these achievements are a direct result of the very important work that Traveller organisations are doing the length and breadth of the country. We want to celebrate the achievements of our people. If what is proposed in Putting People First, the Government's policy on local government reform, comes to pass the Trojan work that has been done on community development by local Traveller organisations will be abolished at the stroke of a pen. We are very concerned about this and we ask this committee to use whatever influence it has to ensure that when it comes to the implementation of that policy document Traveller organisations are allowed to retain their independence and autonomy to continue the work we have been doing for the past 30 years.