Mr. Michael Power:

My point will be brief. For the past 12 years, I have been working with Travellers' Voicemagazine and have been its editor for the past five. I have noticed a trend in education in that time whereby young Travellers are excelling in education, but it is not something that we are speaking about loudly enough. There is a trend of Travellers staying in education and going to third level but falling off the radar. They must hide their identities in third level or to get employment. They do not raise their heads above the parapet at all.

I agree with the idea of internships, albeit not ones that are tokenistic. They should lead to actual employment. It should not be a case of just ticking boxes to say that an employer has a member of the Traveller community sitting on a seat and is doing his or her best by that person. An internship is only as effective as the follow-up.

To reiterate what Mr. Hogan and Ms Sherlock stated, quotas are a fantastic idea, but there needs to be a conversation among the Traveller organisations about what we feel is acceptable for our community.