Mr. Frank Curran:

I am chairman of the County and City Management Association's committee on housing, building and land use. I am also chief executive of Wicklow County Council. As the Vice Chairman has said, I am accompanied by my colleague, Mr. Colm Ward, director of services for housing in South Dublin County Council.

On behalf of the CCMA I thank the committee for its invitation here today and look forward to assisting it in its examination of issues in accessing housing and accommodation in the context of higher homeless rates among the Traveller community. This is a priority issue for local authorities, and we welcome the opportunity to discuss our work in this area and some of the challenges faced.

Local authorities have a key statutory responsibility in the area of homelessness under various Acts, such as the Housing Act 1988 and the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009. As set out in the Housing Act 1988, local authorities have general responsibility for the provision of housing for adults who cannot afford to provide it for themselves. The Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 places a statutory obligation on local authorities to make provision for the accommodation needs of Travellers through the adoption and implementation of five-year Traveller accommodation programmes.

In relation to housing, local authorities broadly aim to achieve a situation whereby every household in which a housing need has been established has, as far as possible, available to it an affordable dwelling of good quality in a good environment at a tenure and location of choice. All applicants seeking social housing accommodation, including Traveller-specific accommodation, are required to submit housing applications and relevant documents, in accordance with the housing regulations of 2011. Where the applicant has particular family circumstances or a disability, the local authority will consider such issues when addressing the housing need. It is the policy of local authorities to consult Traveller applicants regarding their accommodation needs and requirements to provide, where appropriate, Traveller-specific accommodation.

Each local authority has a Traveller accommodation programme, TAP, which aims to meet the existing and projected accommodation needs of Travellers in their areas, including providing Traveller accommodation in appropriate, suitable and well-serviced areas. The TAP is prepared and structured in a prescribed format and reviewed every four years. Specific programmes and actions are developed following an assessment of Traveller housing needs and a community and stakeholder consultation process. The programme is approved by the relevant council and by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Each November, local authorities undertake an annual estimate of accommodation of Travellers which assists in drawing up the TAPs. As has been outlined by my colleagues, it can be difficult to get accurate figures if ethnicity is not declared. The CCMA welcomes the proposal of the expert review group on Traveller accommodation to formally record ethnicity and Traveller status in housing applications. The CCMA has two representatives on the programme board established to oversee implementation of 18 of the 32 expert review group's recommendations.

The capital delivery programme for housing to meet the assessed and projected housing need of the Traveller community in local authorities is based on the TAP. At present, the TAP requirements in capital delivery and housing maintenance are met by the same delivery and maintenance teams that are tasked with meeting increasing housing delivery targets, increased housing stock and asset management requirements, voids and retrofit programmes. Where Traveller-specific accommodation is proposed, a significant amount of consultation with families and communities is required to build trust, design the best housing solutions and create favourable conditions for the planning process. Such projects are very important but take up increased resources and time. Local Traveller accommodation consultative committees, LTACC, have been established in all local authorities. The role of the LTACC is to provide a forum whereby Traveller accommodation issues can be addressed in a timely and co-ordinated manner and where decisions are reached as far as possible on the basis of mutual consensus. Membership of the LTACC consists of Travellers, Traveller development groups, elected members and local authority staff.

Local authorities provide a range of accommodation options to the Traveller community, including Traveller-specific accommodation. Accommodation is provided by local authorities through a range of options such as standard local authority housing, which is the majority as it happens, approved housing body housing, group housing and halting sites and accommodation provided through subsidisation via the housing assistance payment and rental accommodation scheme. With the support of homeless service providers, including non-governmental organisations, local authorities also provide emergency accommodation units with specific supports for homeless families and Traveller families using private emergency accommodation, transitional units, emergency accommodation, housing assistance payment homeless place finder and family hubs. Local authorities are experiencing a growth in young Traveller family formations as well as changing dynamics for the provision of housing solutions to Traveller families. The CCMA would like to clarity that local authorities provide emergency accommodation to Traveller families in the same manner as all homeless families.

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the collaborative efforts of local authorities, the Department, the HSE, Traveller representatives and others have been crucial in mitigating against Covid-19 within vulnerable groups. This unified approach continues to have a positive impact across the sector. The CCMA worked with the Department and the HSE to carry out a Covid risk assessment of Traveller sites using a toolkit to identify areas that needed additional supports during the pandemic. The CCMA strongly believes this very practical approach had a significant impact and local authorities will continue to build on this progress.

By April 2021, local authorities had drawn down €4.5 million of a total €15.5 million funding available for the provision of additional facilities for Traveller-specific accommodation. This included the provision of 111 accommodation units, additional water and sanitation facilities, electricity supply, additional site cleaning, additional waste removal, pest control and site improvement works. The roll-out of estate management initiatives, where Travellers are residing in local authority housing schemes, will help improve relationships between local authorities, residents and Travellers through environment, sports, arts, libraries, age friendly services and municipal district offices. These programmes are focused on developing a more positive estate management approach and the CCMA strongly believes it will lead to the creation of new resident committees. The active engagement of all residents, including Travellers, is encouraged.

Where some Traveller families may feel isolated, greater inter-agency involvement may break down barriers between settled and Traveller communities. The pre-tenancy programmes offered by NGOs supporting the Traveller community strive to ensure positive outcomes by concentrating on day-to-day home maintenance, maintaining a tenancy, budgeting and advice and information on healthy eating are welcomed by the CCMA. The Traveller accommodation support unit in the Department is in regular contact with local authorities to provide support and funding as appropriate. In addition to capital funding for the build and refurbishment programme, the Department also provides specific funding to local authorities to employ social workers and Traveller liaison officers to work with and assist Travellers with their accommodation needs.

As I stated earlier, evidence would suggest that homelessness among Travellers is higher than it is across the population generally. The data is difficult to capture as it is based on local knowledge only and where ethnicity has been declared. As has been pointed out, progress is being made generally in reducing homelessness, with a 48% reduction in families in homeless accommodation between July 2018 and July 2021. Local authorities have advised that when Traveller families become homeless they can be larger families requiring additional resources and it may be difficult to provide suitable accommodation for their needs. There is also a need to have suitable wraparound support services for some individuals and families, which involves communication with various stakeholders.

On private rental accommodation, anecdotal feedback from some Traveller families is that, unfortunately, some landlords are not predisposed to offer private rented accommodation to Travellers. Where Traveller-specific accommodation is proposed a significant amount of consultation with families and communities is required to build trust, design the best housing solutions and create favourable conditions for the planning process. Such projects take additional time and resources. These projects are generally not suitable for external design teams. We try to do them in-house because of the consultation involved. Compatibility between Traveller families can be an issue in allocating Traveller-specific accommodation.

Within local authorities, the role of a social worker is to provide care and case management to Travellers who present as homeless, who need to make applications for housing supports or who have experienced complex family issues requiring inter-agency interventions for many years. Throughout the sector this resource is also tasked with a wide range of duties, such as homeless service delivery and supervision. Child protection duties and housing welfare for an increasing number of non-Traveller housing applicants can sometimes result in reduced capacity to meet Traveller-specific support requirements. Many Traveller tenancies require retrofit or extension works where families expand or have special requirements. The number of presentations of single people using homeless services has increased throughout society in general due to the lack of supply of one-bedroom units. This has been recognised by all stakeholders and it is something on which the CCMA is working with the Department to solve.

Local authorities are under significant pressure to increase supports to ethnic minorities and do not have the resources to meet all demand. In accordance with the Housing for All strategy, the CCMA recognises and supports that addressing Traveller accommodation is one of a number of priorities that need to be addressed. The CCMA is working in partnership with the various stakeholders to drive the recommendations contained within the Traveller accommodation expert review group report.

The CCMA welcomes the report of the independent review of the role of social workers and believes there is a need for a more sustainable funding model for the retention and expansion of the social work service and to reflect the wider role of the social worker both within the housing Department and across the local authorities generally. It concurs with the report that support for those staff working with Traveller accommodation is required and more mentoring, training and active case study learnings is vital. Greater inter-agency involvement is also required in some cases. A good example of this is the work done by the local authorities in collaboration with the HSE during the height of the pandemic to ensure the correct measures were implemented to help alleviate, where possible, the spread of Covid-19. The CCMA welcomes this continued collaboration. It looks forward to working with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on the development of the caravan loan scheme, which is in pilot in four local authorities.

Each local authority is actively supporting all members of the Traveller community, not just those who present as homeless, and the CCMA continues to foster relationships with all the stakeholders to deliver better outcomes for Traveller families.