Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As there are no further contributions from members, I would like to make a brief contribution. It is a privilege to have been asked by the Chairperson to chair this meeting in her stead. It has been a very useful meeting. The report, in its detail, is very stark and important. Unfortunately, there are many cases of similar type throughout the country. We do not need to do much study to know that. Most of us know that already. The testimony of members today points to this not being a one-off situation, unfortunately.

There is another matter of concern. The report looks at the Traveller issue not only from the point of view of accommodation but in regard to children because children are the remit of the Ombudsman for Children. The report is a wake-up call for us too. We know how much early childhood experiences influence people's later life experiences in terms of health, education opportunities and so on. The report highlights, from the prism of a child, the impact of lack of action in this area. I can assure Dr. Muldoon that the committee will look carefully at the recommendations in the context of its report, which has a wider remit across the Traveller experience in our society.

I have a question regarding Part 8. I believe it presents a barrier and we should be honest enough to admit that societal attitudes create that barrier because where accommodation for Travellers is proposed, pressure is often brought to bear on politicians. I have argued for a long time that that issue should be dealt with and have asked whether Part 8 should perhaps be suspended. Two suggestions have been made, one of which relates to handing the responsibility to An Bord Pleanála for the short term, whether five years or whatever, or permanently, as was done in other cases. People would be allowed to make observations and the board would then make a decision in line with Government policy. The other idea was to have a dedicated national accommodation authority, although one problem with that, and I would be interested in hearing our guests' views, is it could take some time before that could be set up.

I thought the clarification Dr. Muldoon gave was very useful. He seems to be saying that, as is the case in all ombudsman Acts, the ultimate power he has is to report to the Oireachtas. He is throwing the baton to us, to the Oireachtas as a whole and to this committee specifically, which has been charged by the Oireachtas to examine how Travellers should be treated as full and equal citizens in our community. Dr. Muldoon might confirm that that is where responsibility ultimately goes, that the buck stops here in the Oireachtas and that we should call to account the Government and all its agencies to deal with this issue once and for all, and ensure that no more children will ever grow up in the conditions outlined in his report.