Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I will not repeat much of what has been said, although I agree with everything proposed. The question of targets is important as a marker of how to get things moving. We could recommend or insist that Departments or parts of the public sector have a percentage of jobs going to the Traveller community. It might be more difficult with social enterprises but we could actively advocate programmes to link with social enterprises.

It is more difficult to see this being done in the private sector. Have parts of the private sector been targeted to engage in this, such as the supermarket or trade sectors, including registered mechanics? Is there engagement on cultural and equality rights and encouragement to recruit Travellers? We should target jobs in the private sector for the Traveller community as well. I know a 50-year-old Traveller who was sleeping rough and he is now in a bedsit. He wants to work but does not know where to go to get it. The Department of Social Protection does not know what to offer him. These issues affect middle-aged men or women in the Traveller community, or even people in all communities. Has a pilot been tried in the private sector to bring about positive discrimination in the workplace for the Traveller community?