Ms Edel Quinn:

On the issue of one night only accommodation, I echo the call in that respect made by our colleagues in the Mercy Law Resource Centre. I will cite the example of one illustrative case study that has come through one of our members, Barnardos. A mother and her two small children who use our service had to travel two hours into the city every day with one child in a buggy. They had all of their families’ belongings in seven plastic bags attached to the buggy. The small child who was being potty trained was wetting herself because she could not last the entire journey. We have heard many stories.

It is not right that we are facing this. The matter has to be prioritised.

Also on Deputy O'Dowd's point on the local level, we have heard that minorities are disproportionately affected in many cases. In terms of Travellers in particular, we mentioned in our report card the fact that local authorities are not spending funding they have for Traveller accommodation. For example, in budget 2019, the allocation to local authorities increased and we are seeing that they are not spending it. In 2017, for example, only half of the budget allocation was spent by local authorities. What we would suggest there is that they would be sanctioned. If funding is there, it should be spent, particularly when children are living in really bad accommodation.