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

It is great to see the witnesses again. I know where they are coming from when they say that they should not be here and we should not be in this situation. One can really hear the frustration and righteous anger felt by the Traveller and Roma communities from the point of view of the way human rights have not been upheld.

We must ensure that the independent national Traveller accommodation authority is set up. We must ensure that it conducts quarterly reviews or whatever and plans exactly what needs to be done. This is the only area where we are not calling for money to be invested as the money is there but it has not been spent because of racist attitudes, which are wrong. We must call that out and align a few things together. I agree with the call to repeal criminal trespass legislation but it must be done in tandem with accommodation being built. I suggest that so we will not have a situation where accommodation is not being built, the law is repealed and families go on to the sites but the law is used against families and communities as the sites are not secured for living conditions. All of these things must be done together so that when people find themselves in an overcrowded situation on a site that there is somewhere for them to go. This comes down to all the issues that relate to evictions both within the Traveller community and general population. No one should be evicted until there is somewhere for him or her to go and if there is a problem, then that must be addressed on the site or wherever.

That is my opinion on the matter. We need to get it right this time because if we do not, there will be not just righteous anger but also anger that will be spread elsewhere in regard to how the communities have been treated. One issue we have to factor in, and it will not stop us from doing the job we have to do, relates to the racist, fascist-type movements that are building in communities and trying to get a foothold in working-class communities. Accommodation is a human right for everybody and we should not all be fighting for the crumbs from the table. Social housing should be provided for the general population and there should be specific accommodation for the Traveller and Roma communities.

I hope that what we in the committee can pull together will enhance what our guests want to do. The legislation has to be there and there will have to be penalties and so on. The issue is so frustrating. The Chairman mentioned Labre Park, the site of which the council was supposed to reconstruct four years ago. Again and again, however, barriers are put up and there is another excuse not to go ahead with it. Inspections are carried out, health and safety reports are prepared and so on. We get new plans all the time and it just kicks the can down the road from the point of view of dealing with the issue on the site.

I read recently that it was ten years ago that Cork City Council presented councillors with a proposal to rezone the land in Spring Lane to extend the chronically overcrowded halting site. A HSE report on the conditions on the site, in regard to the sewerage and so on, was produced in 2012. This has been going on and on. We have to say "stop". It is time for action and we have to implement it. We have to find a way to cut across not only the racism that exists but also the undercurrent that is there. I do not know exactly how we can do that. I do not know whether there should be ad campaigns depicting the conditions the Travelling community is living in. Our guests and their movements have to make that decision because, as they have always said, there should be nothing about them without them.

How can we communicate to the general population that this needs to change and that it is just not acceptable? We cannot accept that kids live in the conditions they do, not because of what they do themselves but because of the non-action of State bodies. I hope we can pull together something strong from this committee to support the communities in every way we can.