Mr. Martin Collins:

On a more positive note, I acknowledge what is generally regarded as a model of good practice, namely, the rolling out of the four education pilot schemes, in Dublin, Cork, Wexford and Galway. There is a multidisciplinary team involved consisting of Travellers, an education welfare officer and a home–school liaison official. The pilots are for two years and are funded by the Department of Justice and Equality, Tusla and the Department of Education and Skills. That must be acknowledged. The aim of the pilots is to support Traveller access, participation and progression throughout the education system. Part of the team's remit will be to work with Traveller parents and to advocate for and empower them to develop the confidence and skill set to engage with school staff, including the principal, to ensure the best interest of their children is being met. There is a national oversight committee for that. It includes Traveller organisations. The programme will be reviewed and documented. If it proves to be effective, it should be expanded to other parts of the country. That is a positive development that I wish to acknowledge.

There is a commitment in the national Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy to develop an affirmative action programme that would give Travellers the opportunity to gain access to teacher training colleges to become teachers. That is really important because the only way one can develop trust and confidence in any institution is when one sees one's own face reflected back when one looks at it. The same principle applies to the Garda and other institutions. That is probably the most effective way, albeit not the only way, of developing trust and confidence among Travellers in the education system. It is when they see their own faces in the system as teachers and principals. That is where we really need to be heading. We need to be very ambitious, not timid. We need to make it happen. All of us, through the strategy, are advocating strongly in this regard.