Mr. Paul Benson:

Transient sites are called out in the 1998 Act as being something that should be provided. Heretofore, there has not been any successful provision of them by local authorities. Not everyone is supportive of them, including Travellers who sometimes are not supportive of them in their local areas. However, there is recognition at Department and local authority level that a network of transient sites is required. How best to do that may be on a regional basis and that is being explored. I mentioned in my opening statement that we have begun discussions with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to see about an all-island approach to this. We will see what it is doing, what we might be able to do and what the appropriate number and location for those transient sites is to facilitate the nomadism that is part of Traveller culture and which some Travellers still exercise. That work is one of the recommendations of the expert group and it will be followed through on. However, there is much work to do to get transient sites on the ground.