Mr. Bernard Joyce:

I thank Deputy McAuliffe for the question. I fully support the comments from the other national organisations. In terms of the postal service for halting sites, in 2021 some people still do not get post directly delivered to them. That has been a concern in the work of the Irish Traveller Movement, not just for voting but also in terms of people getting medical appointments and other serious matters. When An Post needs to directly deliver post to a halting site or house and there are issues with people being registered, that needs to be taken up with local authorities which are the landlords of Traveller-specific accommodation. That issue needs to be addressed. That is my understanding.

I would also like to add that I concur that the current system is very outdated. It is from the last century. In terms of a modern Ireland, Travellers are a nomadic group in Ireland and one would think we would have a right to vote. It is only in the past decade that people have started to feel they can vote and have the right to vote. My father never voted, and nor did his father. We never had a right to vote because we never had a fixed address.

When people talk about the last 100 years there have never been any Travellers in Dáil Eireann in the history of the State. Our voice has never been presented until recently with the appointment of Senator Eileen Flynn, and we commend the State and Taoiseach in that regard.