Mr. David Joyce:

I am not sure if it would be correct to argue it would enhance the legal rights of Travellers. A significant number of rights already exist under the Constitution, while the international conventions to which we have signed up also confer rights. They have not resulted in any extra litigation or a flood of cases before the courts. The argument that ethnicity will create extra litigation does not follow.

Breaches which exist and give rise to causes of action relate to accommodation and provision. Many of those causes of action already exist in our domestic legislation where there is a failure by a local authority to fulfil its statutory obligations. International conventions to which we have signed up are not directly applicable before our courts. We cannot realign them as tools in legal argument. The only rights which can be relied on probably exist in our domestic legislation.

I cannot see how the recognition of ethnicity confers extra political and legal rights specifically on Travellers. It may have an impact on a broader notion of equality in the State. There is nothing in recognising Traveller ethnicity, however, that will put them above and beyond any other citizen in respect of a cause of action. That is the commission's understanding.