Mr. Bernard Joyce:

Yes. One of the issues was identity bullying, with young people reporting physical and verbal abuse. Another was that of low expectations, with reports of teachers putting Travellers at the back of classrooms. We are not talking about 20 years ago but now. Young Travellers raised the issue of teachers not valuing them as much as their settled peers and using them for sports instead of academia. They need more support and information in school, for example, assistance with grant applications and the cost of same. Despite the talk about supporting people in education, we are not giving young people that support.

On incomes, Mr. Collins alluded to how the Traveller economy was in decline. As such, there is a need to increase the value of education within the community. Although young people are being pushed out of school, there are a number of other factors involved in early school leaving. For example, young people might not like school, they are being bullied, they feel silly about not having literacy skills or they are not in a comfortable space, in the sense that other young people are leaving them out. Another factor is their culture is not seen in the classroom or school. These factors were even evident when I was going to school in the 1980s. They are intergenerational issues which continue the cycle.

If people want to see something being done, the Yellow Flag programme is an example of an initiative, but we need to see a strong policy approach being taken to address the underlying issues. A national education strategy is required to put in place what is needed to address some of the issues within the community.