Ms Andrea Fitzgerald:

From the front-line experience, generally, people from the homeless population are discriminated against on a daily basis. However, most definitely, there are significant challenges for members of the Traveller community.

When people are referred to us, our work involves assessing their needs in an holistic manner. Yes, it is that prevention piece and that will be the focus because we cannot address any of the other issues with people if they are not in a home. Part of the needs assessment involves picking out particular areas in a person's life that he or she needs assistance with. All of this is done with the end view that we are trying to build people up and empower them. While we do that, as the professionals, it is our role within that particular remit to challenge discrimination as we encounter it, maybe on a daily or weekly basis. We do not present people as just statistics or particular households. We put a real human face on what is actually going on for people. That is not easy work. We liaise with lots of different agencies on a daily basis. Some of the most successful pieces of work that we have carried out have been when we have been able to attack cases at a multi-agency level. This means that when various stakeholders sit around the table, the client, who is at the centre, is given a voice in a very fair and compassionate way.