Ms Maria Joyce:

It is already covered in that it would mean the automatic inclusion of Travellers in any anti-racism or intercultural initiatives in the State and in various Departments, such as those with responsibility for health or education.

We have seen situations where Travellers have been excluded from some of the policies that have been developed around integration and anti-racism even though there is absolutely no rationale to justify it. Fundamentally it will mean that where these kinds of policies are being developed by central Government or within the various Departments Travellers will automatically be included. We hope that in practical terms it will mean greater or real partnership in terms of engagement with Travellers by the State. There are spaces where we engage in consultation and unfortunately we have been in those spaces for many years. If one even takes the accommodation sector as an example, there have been 18 years of consultation yet the numbers of Travellers on the roadside, sharing accommodation, or in crisis accommodation is increasing. It is not indicative of something that is working. We want real partnership in which we are part of the decision-making processes in a real way.

Deputy O'Brien spoke about Carrickmines, which should have been considered a heartbreaking and devastating event in the history of the State. While there was certain goodwill, we saw very quickly that when it came to accommodating the grieving families of the people who had died, not even space for accommodation could be created. Some of the statements that came out politically at the time said it was right that the settled majority should be consulted if a Traveller is living beside them. In the aftermath of ten people dying, they could not even find accommodation to create a safe space for the grieving families. We need real partnership in terms of the practicalities and the positive policies that are not being implemented. One would like to think there will be mechanisms of accountability where if policies are not being implemented, the buck stops somewhere but that is not the case if one looks at statistics in education, inequality of access, participation and outcomes for Traveller children and in terms of health, both physical and mental, across the whole community. One would hope that one of the practical benefits will be direct partnership between the State and Travellers and Traveller organisations.