Maria Bailey (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, Deputy Barry. I wish to make some comments. Notwithstanding the witnesses and the people in the Public Gallery, there is a great deal of experience in local and national politics in this room with regard to realistic views and options that could be pursued. I have been through three development plans. I am very aware of that TA sign, taking it on, taking it off and the problems we have around that. It all comes down to clear communication and information in the local authority in that area. It is about bringing people from all communities with us, not leaving them behind. We do that through clear communication and leadership. That leadership must come from the local authority.

I am loath to take it away from the local authorities because it will add another layer of bureaucracy. They are best placed. They know the demographics, the needs and the wants of their communities in those areas. I am also loath to introduce sanctions because sanctions put up a wall. It is better to bring people along than to put up a wall. Introducing sanctions would be something I would do as a last call. A solution can always be found; nothing is insurmountable. I am also a realist. We have 15 accommodation programmes for the Traveller community in Dún Laoghaire which are all well maintained. There are issues with some; there are no issues with others. We have some issues on private estates but we do not have issues on other private estates. One tries to ensure balance and fairness in the system. It is up to the local authorities to come forward with solutions and sites.

A lot of information was made available to this committee. Some of us took advantage of that. I was delighted to meet with Anna Visser from the Library and Research Service who carried out a report. She went through it with me in great detail in respect of different areas of the country. It raised many issues that will need to be dealt with. We have to look at the needs as opposed to wants at local level. We also have to recognise that some Traveller families want to be in a permanent house rather than a Traveller accommodation programme, while others do not. It is about the desktop study the expert group has spoken about and about getting that database together to find out the needs of the Traveller community. Numerous other issues come up with regard to finding suitable land including objections from local communities. Funding is clearly not the problem; drawing it down is. There has to be a willingness, however, in the local authority to drive that. Local authorities are under fierce pressure as of late in respect of the delivery of social housing but this issue has to be part of that. I am delighted that the Minister of State, Deputy English, wanted to get this expert group together because he recognised that there is a problem that needs to be solved and that we have to recognise where those pinch points are and work on them together.

We also have to be fair about it. If there is a family on the side of the road for whatever reason, one has to be fair to the people who are living in that community. They have to be kept informed of the situation. We have to communicate with them. We have to find out why that family has decided to be on the side of the road. Is it because accommodation was not made available to them? Is it because they were not included in the system? Is it because the local authority is not aware of them? Have all solutions been offered to that family? If so, there has to be fairness for people who live in that area.

There is a role for all sides to play in teasing through these solutions. It is not about pitching local authorities against Government. It is not about adding another layer of bureaucracy and asking another body to enforce this. A group such as the expert group will come up with the radical solutions that are required and decisions will be made on the informed evidence which it will collate, rather than on the basis of one-liners such as those to which Deputy Barry alluded. None of us agreed with the comments that were made during the presidential campaign but there has to be a fairness in providing Traveller accommodation. It has to consider the need, want and demographic required in the area. There has to be proper consultation, and that can be difficult at times, but there has to be bravery in doing that. There also has to be a fairness.

In my own area in Shankill, we have a family that is on the side of the road in a particular area. There is no issue. They are not causing any trouble in any shape or form but there has to be a fairness. People are paying mortgages or rent. There has to be a balance in the system. It is hard to strike that balance and that is where the expert group will be pivotal. By doing that, we will bring people with us. Working together, I believe local authorities will play their role in delivery but that has to be done in a manner which we can all support, that local politicians also support and that delivers homes in safe communities for families.