Ms Kathleen Sherlock:

To answer the question, I do not know any Travellers who are sitting on any State boards. That is the truth and I do not know if anybody else here does. Returning to a point made about Travellers having moved out of self-employment, when we consider one of the largest industries that Travellers were involved in, namely recycling, that was privatised and Travellers were sidelined completely. We are looking at a broad scope when we examine Traveller employment. We look at people in different spaces who may have different long-term objectives. We focus on the younger people or Travellers looking to build careers.

I refer to people who have gone to school and who are doing well. They want to branch out and get opportunities in a broad range of areas. We have Travellers who are very good with computers and have good IT skills. They do it at home, and they are brilliant at IT and naturally inclined in that direction. We need to focus on areas like that and all of the different things that Travellers are good at. I state that because, while I welcome the idea that community employment schemes would be extended, where necessary, and they are a correct fix for some people, allowing them to be exactly where they need to be, at work-----