Colette Kelleher (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo many of the points made by Deputy Ó Broin. What specific work does the working group envisage in a root and branch examination of the role of local authorities? Deputy Ó Broin referred to the underspend. I wish to put on record the underspend in Tipperary, the local authority in the eye of the storm. In the past 18 years they underspent by €4.7 million. That is a very significant underspend when the spin in the media was all about money being spent and people not taking up offers, not that the reporting was accurate.

It is important that underspending is examined in the work of the expert group. The role of local authorities in those underspends should be outlined. The review should refer to the political activities and discriminatory practices of elected members who oppose accommodation. It is important the review does not avoid or skirt around it. We all know it happens and it should be discussed. The efficacy of local measures such as the LTACCs should be referred to in a root-and-branch examination of the role of local authorities in delivery. I hear them criticised anecdotally as not being useful and as being talking shops. Will the expert group take a view on whether we are talking about reforming local authorities and applying sanctions such as those Deputy Ó Broin outlined such that if a local authority does not spend its Traveller budget, it will not get its other budgets? Should we be looking at something far more radical and not wasting energy on reforming something that is not reformable given the latent prejudice among elected members representing their communities? Is the working group open to examining the establishment of an independent national Traveller accommodation agency? In its report back to the committee, will the working group be specific about addressing the issues of underspending, the crises in people's day-to-day lives, safety and overcrowding issues? Will it provide an interim report so that, having regard to the political cycle, we will not miss opportunities to get any legislation on the books?

The consultation with stakeholders will be critical. Groups on the ground have been doing an awful lot of work and research and it is important the expert group taps into it. In north Cork they have been conducting extensive data gathering and research on concerns among members of the Traveller community about accommodation. Rather than reinventing the wheel, we could take note of that work and research. It should be done in addition to the LTACCs, which would also connect with local Traveller development groups because they have their finger on the pulse of the issues people face on the ground.