Dr. Robbie McVeigh:

I would use all of those words with knobs on. I also spoke at the conference on ethnicity and Travellers in 2012. The best that the Government could come up with was one Traveller who did not have any competence, I believe, but who just happened to believe that he was not a member of an ethnic group. That was the best case that could be presented. It was embarrassing. It was hard on him. In a room full of Travellers who all believed that they were members of an ethnic group, that was supposed to be the case against ethnicity. It was intellectually and politically embarrassing. I am someone who is proud to be Irish and who is proud of this year's commemorations.

That is why I spoke about it directly in my opening statement. If we are serious about cherishing the children of the nation equally, prevarication on the question of Traveller ethnicity is an embarrassment and I cannot find the logic to it. It took years to get this notion of cost out, but as I have suggested, if one address the question of cost, the experience in other jurisdictions would suggest that the cost implications are minimal. It makes Ireland, which has a very positive reputation in terms of international human rights and equality constituencies, look silly and a country at the forefront of ethnicity and racism denial rather than at the forefront of the struggle for human rights and equality around the world. On that basis it is shocking to me. I will keep coming back to these committees and I will keep making the case, if members want it to be made, but I cannot see any justification for the delay. It is just wrong.