Ms Ronnie Fay:

I will try to answer the questions. With regard to the cuts, the reality is that many political choices were made under the guise of austerity. The community and voluntary sector was cut to the tune of 36%, which was totally disproportionate. As I have highlighted, funding for the Traveller sector was cut by between 80% and 100%. This could happen because nobody cared or listened. We highlighted this and campaigned but no one was looking after our issue. We carried out research and gave the evidence but what we desire has still not happened. Linked to the driver notion is the fact that we have been calling for a Traveller agency for the past 20 years or more. It is not unique to any one area. Circumstances in education are particularly bad, and the same is the case for health. There has never been a Traveller training or employment strategy. Some 84% of Travellers are unemployed. This State was rightly regarded as in crisis when there was an unemployment rate of 14%. During the Celtic tiger years, 84% of Travellers were employed but nobody seems to care. Having looked at the recent action plan for Traveller education for the period 2016 to 2019, I note that there has been one Traveller action for the group that has probably the most educational inequalities. We all know that the better educated one is, the healthier one is and the more likely one is to get out of poverty and be employed. There are cumulative impacts.

Deputy O'Callaghan asked what additional points could be in the report? I would include the call for a Traveller agency. We are not naive enough to believe we will get an accommodation agency, a health agency and an employment agency. I call for one agency that looks after culture, gender, accommodation, health and education. Unless this is established, what has been happening will continue to happen, unfortunately.

The various political groupings in the House could consider having a guardian angel for Travellers in each of the sections. It does not just happen. It is not that people set out to exclude, but that there is exclusion because there are so many other agendas and political pressures. Some 42% of Travellers are under 15 years of age and 65% are under 25. Therefore, there is a very young population so Travellers do not have the capacity to lobby in the same way as others. The community is dispersed so it does not have political clout in the same way. We, the Council of Europe and CERD have called on every single Taoiseach for many years to appoint a Traveller as a Taoiseach's nominee in the Seanad. It has never happened. It would not be the panacea but it would be symbolic. If a politician is meeting a Traveller in here, he or she is more likely to think about the Travellers.

Reference was made to the equality debate. There will be no Front Bench spokespersons coming out as Travellers in this House; that is the reality. It was great that there were gay people who could come out and add their voice within the parliamentary parties, but that will never happen for Travellers. We must recognise the extreme marginalisation of Travellers and the fact that we are not starting on a level playing field. A lot has to happen. Ethnic recognition is one tiny step, but it would be very significant and a key part of the jigsaw that must be put in place.