Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Do any of the committee members wish to contribute? They can contribute on the second round if they wish.

I wish to make a few points, as a Traveller woman.

First, many Traveller women, like women from the general population, choose to be stay-at-home mothers and wives. For members of the public who are watching these proceedings, there is nothing shameful about choosing that as a career. We all know, as mothers and as young mothers, it is one of the hardest jobs in the world, but for women who stay at home it is not recognised enough. I wish to clarify that.

In addition, and I hope I am not being cheeky in saying this, it is not part of Traveller culture not to work. Years ago, my father, the Lord have mercy upon him, worked as a mechanic. He did not have a qualification for it. Members of my extended family are really good as electricians, plumbers and mechanics, especially some of the men, and the women work with hair and make-up, caring and so forth. I was in a school before Christmas and before the restrictions and a young Traveller woman said to me: "Eileen, you are lucky. We all will not end up in the Houses of the Oireachtas. We all would not get those jobs. At the end of the day, we are only going to be seen as Travellers". This was a young girl of 12 years of age in a secondary school. I remember my grandfather or my big daddy, the Lord have mercy upon him. He is more than 12 years dead and he used to say to us that Travellers could rule Ireland - he meant that they could be in politics, jobs and so forth - if only they had the opportunity to do so. I believe he was right. Many times we say that if Travellers can go forward and be something, the other Travellers will see it and want to be it as well. Unfortunately, that is still not happening because racism and discrimination are beaten into one from a young age - in primary school, secondary school and at third level in university. I am just stating that from my experience. One of our biggest problems is getting young Travellers to complete second level education. That is something the Irish Traveller Movement, Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, the Minceir Whiden Society, Exchange House Travellers Service and all the national organisations are working on at present.

As a Traveller woman, I am sick to death of policies, of sitting in rooms, not just today but for the last ten years, of looking at jobs and employment, how to get the Travellers through the door and saying the Travellers need A, B, C and D. It is very tough, as an activist, seeing that ten years later. My colleague, Oein De Bhardúin, works with me in the Oireachtas. We work together, hand in hand. It is brilliant and we have big conversations in which we say, "If only". In every employment we look at the status of women and men. That information should be available for ethnic minority groups too. Every employer should be employing people from ethnic minority groups, which include members of the Traveller community. There are many Travellers who work in nursing homes and are front-line workers in the midst of the pandemic. There are also doctors, nurses, school principals and so forth who went on to get masters and doctorates. They work in the Department of Education. There are many great Traveller people. While we are having this conversation, and without me running on a little too much, let us look at one of the positives, that we have many Travellers in employment. Unfortunately, however, many of those Travellers have to hide their identity to be successful.