Ms Maria Joyce:

There are a couple of points I want to make with regard to racism. In some ways, it does not surprise me too much that the Chairman may not be aware of the racism in schools but Travellers and other ethnic minorities are. It is well recognised that there are issues of racism, discrimination and anti-Traveller bias impacting on Traveller children in education, right across primary and post-primary in particular. If people found themselves in a Traveller child's shoes even for one day in any school across this country, they would probably not go the full day without the negative experience that very many Traveller children have.

I am going to say this again without apology, and I know it has been said right across this session. Unless the education system looks at itself and addresses its failures with regard to Traveller children, nothing will change and these conversations will still be happening in a number of years. Change is required with the system, not with the Traveller child that is in it.

In regard to moving from one place to another, what impacts that is the need to stop evictions and improve housing and accommodation provision for Travellers, and to recognise the diversity of the school population. A core element for Travellers is nomadic movement. Much less of that is happening due to legislation like the trespass legislation, which has impacted in an incredibly negative way on Traveller nomadism. If we have an education system that recognises the diversity of all students, measures like that will be put in place. Much of the time, movement has occurred because of evictions and because of substandard accommodation or lack of accommodation. If we address that, we will address some of those other issues.

Is it any wonder there are still issues of absenteeism when Traveller children have very negative experiences and are unhappy in the education system? That is because the education system is continuing to fail them, not them failing the system. We need to address those core issues.

The Chairman's first point on data is a critical one and Ms Reilly has answered it well in regard to the need for ethnic data on education and segregation in education to measure and monitor the outcomes from education, and to put in place the supports that are needed.