David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Good morning everybody, Senators, ladies and gentlemen. I thank the committee for inviting me here today to this unusual but very important event to speak at the committee hearings on the specific theme of Traveller participation and politics. These hearings promise to provide valuable insights on the current situation of Travellers in Ireland and on issues needing to be addressed. Those here will be aware of my long-standing commitment to improving the situation of Travellers, both as Minister and formerly as chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. I apologise as due to my diary commitments I will not be able to stay for the full session but I will take note of what is going on and record it later, and I will stay as long as I can.

Significant progress has been made to recognise the contribution of Travellers to Irish society. The recognition of Travellers as an ethnic minority, as was said by Senator Kelleher, by the then Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, in March 2017 was a landmark occasion. The historic debate that night on Traveller ethnicity was memorable, each party acknowledging the significance of what was being done and the importance of recognising and celebrating Travellers’ distinct identity within Irish history and life.

As the Chairman may be aware, I chair the Steering Committee of the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy, NTRIS. The strategy is a published and living document. I was glad to be able to invite Senator Kelleher to the last meeting of that steering committee. I am sure she will share with colleagues later her impressions of what she saw at that meeting. NTRIS is a whole-of-Government strategy, which I launched in June 2017, aimed at improving the lives of the Traveller and Roma communities in Ireland. It has been developed and is being implemented in a partnership approach with Traveller and Roma organisations so that their concerns are considered when national policy is being developed and so that collaborative responses can be put in place to address the challenges which remain to be addressed.

The strategy contains a number of actions that relate specifically to this theme of Traveller participation and politics. These actions were developed following an extensive consultation process during 2016 and 2017. That consultation process enabled a wide range of Traveller voices to be heard on the actions needing to be included in the strategy.

The steering committee for the strategy is made up of departmental and agency representatives and of representatives of the Traveller and Roma organisations. They have the role of monitoring each of the actions of the strategy. Departments and agencies have to report on progress on individual actions to the committee. NTRIS is being monitored according to a traffic light system which enables progress on each action to be clearly evaluated. In addition, specific actions have been prioritised for attention in 2019. These form an implementation plan for the year and are subject to quarterly updates at the steering group meetings.

There is no tokenism in the inclusion of the Traveller organisations on the committee. The members of the committee from the Traveller organisation are strong and influential. Their role is an important one in monitoring the implementation of the strategy. They can and do call Departments and agencies to account on the delivery of the various actions. Their participation is vital as they can shed light on the actual experience of Travellers at national and local level. They are able to confirm whether initiatives are working in practice.

The strategy commits my Department to fund Traveller organisations at national and local level not only to represent and advocate for their community but also to build the capacity within the community for the future.

It is very important that the Traveller community has strong representative groups that represent the community at all levels of society, including nationally, locally and in the media. Such organisations rightly seek to improve outcomes for Travellers as well as providing a crucial link for the State to interact with its Traveller citizens through its various consultative mechanisms. They can also provide an alternative narrative to the criticisms that members of the community see, hear and read in the media on a regular basis. That funding is of importance in developing capacity within Traveller organisations to undertake the political participation process within national and local decision-making structures.

My Department has a budget of €3.8 million in 2019 to fund Traveller and Roma community groups, many of which are represented here, and national-level NGOs. The funding is generally used to cover the costs of community development posts in Traveller and Roma organisations. It has also been used to support Traveller participation in decision-making and political fora. This is in response to actions 132 and 133 of the national Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy, NTRIS, which are focused on supporting Traveller and Roma people to participate in the political processes at local and national levels, as well as facilitating political engagement and leadership in their communities. More specifically, action 132 calls for the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government to support Traveller and Roma organisations on voter education and voter registration initiatives for the Traveller and Roma communities. Action 133 calls for the Department of Justice and Equality to support the development of mentoring programmes to build and develop the capacity of Travellers and Roma to represent their communities at local, national and international levels.

The funding provided to Mincéirs Whiden, for instance, allowed it to hold a conference on political participation in February of this year. I was delighted to address the conference and launch its handbook on mobilising Traveller political participation before, during and after elections. I have a copy of the handbook with me and Senators may wish to have a look at it. The conference was held in advance of the local elections in May. At the time, Mincéirs Whiden had two members of the Traveller community committed to run in the elections. I believe that figure rose to five, although I stand to be corrected in that regard. I commend those candidates for taking the brave step of running for public office. Regardless of the results, it is important that young Travellers, male and female, see their community members taking an interest in, and running for, public office. All politicians know that campaigning is not an easy task.

I also have responsibility for migrant integration policy and have supported initiatives to promote migrant political participation. It is important that the diversity of our society be reflected in the membership of the Oireachtas and in local politics. The progress we have made to achieve better gender balance in politics shows that more balanced political participation can be achieved. However, if this is to be sustained, it will require the support of political parties, Independents and the electorate. If we want Irish society reflected in our political institutions, we are dependent on Travellers, migrants and women to be brave enough to take the giant step of running for public office. We as citizens - members of the Traveller community and otherwise - must ensure that we are registered to vote and that we use that vote to ensure that all of society is reflected in our institutions.

I thank the committee for the invitation to address it. I am pleased with the range of activity being undertaken within Leinster House on the situation of Travellers in Ireland. I welcome the work being done by the committee, the Traveller Oireachtas group and the recently announced Joint Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community. I look forward to reports and recommendations from those groups. I will ensure they are included on the agenda of the NTRIS steering committee. Traveller colleagues will also ensure that happens because they are very strong and vocal on the committee, as they ought to be and I encourage them to be. I believe that working together, in collaboration with Traveller organisations, we can achieve better outcomes for Travellers such that their contribution to Irish life and society can be properly understood and valued.