Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I understand the Traveller community has a problem with bullying in secondary schools but I would like to ask the witnesses about the transition to secondary. How is that transition evolving? At the stage where I was leaving teaching, there was a movement into secondary education of a greater degree. There is bullying there and there are also some barriers. I would like to ask them about that.

How does the Traveller community deal with the minorities within it? How is the Traveller community performing when it comes to LGBT rights, persons with disability and minorities? I always felt, and I say this with the greatest respect, that there was a level of hierarchy in the Traveller community too, which sometimes can be damaging to weaker people. That is in all our societies and it is wrong. I would be interested in how the Traveller community deals with the challenges it faces.

It is great that the Traveller community is here. I hope there are more days like this to come. We are not doing enough. We must say publicly that we are not and the Traveller community must challenge us to do more. Today, the representatives should challenge us to do more.