Mr. Martin Collins:

I thank the Chairman, Deputies and Senators. Pavee Point welcomes the opportunity to engage with the all-party Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Equality on the very important issue of the recognition and acknowledgement of my community's ethnic identity. From the outset I wish to convey our huge disappointment and deep frustration at the fact that the State continues to deny us our ethnicity and identity. That said, we hope the work, interest and commitment shown by the committee will give added impetus and encourage the Government to show political leadership and unequivocally, through the Taoiseach, make a declaration in the Dáil that the Parliament, the State and the country recognise the distinct ethnic identity of my community. The persistent refusal of the State to recognise our ethnic identity is untenable and diminishes our standing in the international community, almost to the point of embarrassment.

Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre has been campaigning and advocating for over 30 years that my community constitutes a distinct ethnic minority and should be recognised as such. We have the support of many academics and many international human rights monitoring bodies, the most prominent of which is the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, CERD. In 2005 and 2011 the CERD reported on Traveller ethnicity. In the latter report, the committee recalled its previous concluding observations and general recommendation No. 8 on the principle of self-identification and expressed concern at the State party's "persistent refusal" to recognise Travellers as an ethnic group, notwithstanding that they satisfied the internationally recognised criteria. In an Irish context, we have the support of the Irish Human Rights Commission and this committee's predecessor. We also know that the Attorney General's office has advised that there would be no costs or legal implications arising from the recognition of Traveller ethnicity. A body of evidence has been provided which is legal, sociological and anthropological in nature and which conclusively confirms that Travellers constitute a distinct ethnic group.

The CERD's recommendation No. 8 asserts that the principle of self-identification apply if no objective justification can be put to the contrary. Traveller organisations, with the support of international human rights groups and domestic human rights organisations, have established a prima faciecase and the burden of proof now rests with the State to disprove Traveller ethnicity. In its attempts to disprove Traveller ethnicity during the years the State has raised a number of issues, one of which is consensus, but nowhere in international law is consensus required in terms of self-identification and the recognition of Traveller ethnicity. Another issue raised is cost, but we know from the Attorney General's office and the work of this committee's predecessor that there are no costs or legal implications arising. These substantive issues which have been put forward by the State in its attempts not to recognise or acknowledge Traveller ethnicity have been dealt with very convincingly. Therefore, one can only assume that the opposition or the objection is ideological in nature.

The recognition of Travellers as a minority ethnic group is not the subject of some abstract, ideological debate. The recognition of our ethnicity is fundamentally a human rights issue which has implications for policy development and service provision as my colleague, Mr. Ronnie Fay, will outline. The acknowledgement of our ethnicity will send a very powerful and symbolic message about respect, inclusion and recognition. It is about validating our history, culture and language. It is not, as some argue, about making us less Irish. There is no conflict between nationality and ethnicity. I am very proud of my Irishness and Travellerness. Recognition would have a very powerful impact on our collective self-esteem, confidence and status in Irish society. It is my strong and long held belief that in the absence of this recognition, the subtext to the narrative continues to be one of viewing my community as dysfunctional, primitive and comprising people who need to be rehabilitated and civilised.

This racist ideology feeds into internalised oppression, which in turn creates shame, low self-esteem, depression and suicide. We are all familiar with the stark suicide rates within our community, which are almost seven times higher than the national average.

In May 2015, the Government and people of this country showed great leadership, courage and generosity by amending our Constitution to allow for marriage equality. We are asking for the same leadership, courage and generosity to be extended to my community.