Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I support that proposal from Deputy Ó Broin. We have a general housing crisis at the moment, but the housing crisis which is affecting Travellers is especially severe, not just in terms of conditions. We also see that Travellers are greatly over-represented in the number of people who have become homeless. Given that the LDA is, and will be, dealing with such a large amount of public land, if we do not have something specific in the Bill, a large amount of land which would have previously been available for social housing and specifically for Traveller accommodation, will be out of the equation. It is very important that this is addressed and I hope the Minister can agree to Deputy Ó Broin's suggestion.