David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests. We all know the fantastic work the Simon Communities do. It is just amazing. We had an open day across the road and it was great to see the work it does. Mr. Dillon has brought this to a new level today and I congratulate him and Ms Casey on what they have been doing. I do not think I have heard so much common sense in a long time. I am aware of the Traveller Mediation Service, the work it does and how successful it is. Again, it is back to what the witness said - a Traveller service run by Travellers for Travellers. It works extremely well. I have worked with the service over the years and I find it extraordinary. The analysis of the cultural appropriateness and the cultural housing is spot-on.

The importance of animals was mentioned, and we all are aware of that. I am sure the witnesses are aware of the horse project in Castlerea Prison. Unfortunately, there are 400 Travellers in prison at present and we established a horse project in Castlerea whereby young Travellers can be trained in animal husbandry and get jobs afterwards. They get qualified through the Prison Service. Mr. Jonathan Irwin was involved in setting that up as well. It is very successful. I am also aware of the horse project in Tullamore, and I met older Travellers there who said that they lived for their horses. Without the horses they would certainly have been in serious trouble with their mental health and so forth. We understand that. I also understand the point, and Ms Casey mentioned this as well, about having animals on housing estates and telling Travellers that they must be on a housing estate but they cannot have a horse or a dog or a shed, whereas people in the countryside have a shed. Everybody in the countryside has a shed, very often quite large sheds, and they have their animals as well. That is very important.

Mr. Dillon has a number of feasibility studies starting and a number of them completed. Can he comment on what is involved in that and, perhaps, tell us a little about them? What is the outcome, how are they done, who does them and why does he do them? There are 473 approved housing bodies in the country and Cena is one of them. It is a small one and is not long in existence. What type of relationship does it have with the other AHBs? There are some big and long-established ones.

We have talked a great deal about discrimination. Mr. Dillon has broken down very well for the committee the cultural appropriateness of housing and what it all means. However, could he talk about the genesis of discrimination? Where does it come from? I know that is a difficult question. We know there is overt racism, and I encountered that in the previous job I had. I encountered people who were strongly racist. That was their thing, and they were avowed and self-proclaimed racists. However, often one would find what one might call ordinary people being quite fearful when they hear that a Traveller might be housed close by. Is that discrimination or is there a lack of information, education and familiarity? Is there more going on here? We all bandy the word "discrimination" about, without breaking it down in respect of what its genesis is and where it comes from. Without knowing the genesis of it, we really cannot deal with it. Perhaps we could deal with it better if we know its genesis. That is another question. I guess local authorities need guidance as well and the type of training and information that the witnesses have given us today, and this is only a short meeting.

I was also interested to hear about the TLOs. Their role is massively important. I know that other AHBs have liaison officers and they do great work. They can head off problems before they arise. They identify them when they are small, before they get big. Often one will find that when liaison officers are involved in any housing estate, there are no problems because they can get involved early.

I apologise for having so many questions, but they are the things that arise. However, well done and congratulations. I wish the witnesses well in the work they are doing. It is very good. It is one of the best presentations I have heard in a long time.