Dr. Kara McGann:

From our perspective, in talking with Traveller community and partner organisations, and using the research on health, the big disincentive relates to the loss of the medical card. Looking at how we address this must be quite multifaceted. For somebody to even consider that would have to trust enough to take the opportunity for employment, and trust that it was going to work out. There is work that we could look at on the Department's side and, equally, on the employment side to tackle the issue.

We are working on spent convictions with Working to Change. My colleague, Ms Costello, sits on the that working group. Broadly in respect of criminal offences, and not specific to the Traveller community, we are bringing a focus group of employers together in the coming weeks to understand where the challenges and barriers are, and what we can do to change that going forward.