Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 12 October 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Traveller Accommodation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish members a good morning and thank them for the opportunity to address the joint committees on the matter of the Traveller expert group report and review of Traveller accommodation. I am joined by two officials from my Department, Mr. Paul Benson, principal officer, and Ms Ann Gill, assistant principal officer.

The Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 provides that local authorities have statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller accommodation programmes, TAPs, in their areas in order to meet the identified accommodation need. The Department's role is to ensure that there are adequate structures and supports in place to assist the local authorities and approved housing bodies in providing such accommodation, including a national framework of policy, legislation and funding. It is a matter for each local authority to set targets for the provision of Traveller accommodation, which they outline in their TAPs. These programmes provide a roadmap for local authority investment priorities over the plan period and form the basis for the allocation of funding from the Department for Traveller accommodation. Current TAPs run for the period 2019 to 2024 and will be up for mid-term reviews at the end of this year.

An annual count of Traveller households is carried out by local authorities in early November. The most recent audited estimate for 2020 indicates that there were approximately 10,809 Traveller households in the State, 78% of whom live in standard accommodation and 22% of whom live in Traveller-specific accommodation. The 78% in standard accommodation includes 45% in local authority or approved housing body tenancies, 18% in supported tenancies in the private rental sector, 9% in shared housing and 6% in accommodation provided by Travellers from their own resource. The 22% in Traveller-specific accommodation includes 8% within group housing schemes, 9% on authorised halting sites and 5% on unauthorised halting sites.

There is no doubt that delivery on Traveller-specific accommodation has been disappointing in recent years and this is reflected in the levels of funding that have been drawn down. I am pleased, however, to report that local authorities made full use of the €14.5 million available for Traveller-specific accommodation in 2020 and it is hoped this will be repeated with the €15.5 million budget for 2021.

It is important to note, however, that accommodation for Traveller households is provided through a wide range of housing options. The majority of Travellers live in standard housing, including local authority and approved housing bodies, AHB, housing, and housing assistance payment, HAP, and rental accommodation scheme, RAS, supported tenancies in the private sector. Funding for these housing supports are provided through the respective budget lines. The Traveller accommodation unit’s budget is provided solely for Traveller-specific accommodation, such as halting sites and group housing schemes. Accordingly, funding available for, and spent on, the provision of accommodation solutions for Travellers is much broader than the often reported spend under the Traveller-specific accommodation budget. The Department continues to work with all our stakeholders to improve the delivery and standard of all types of Traveller accommodation and this will continue.

The recent publication by the Ombudsman for Children's Office, OCO, has shone a spotlight on the unacceptable conditions on the halting site that was the subject of the ombudsman’s investigation. While the conditions on this site are not true of halting sites in general, as there are many examples of well designed, managed and maintained sites throughout the country, it is equally true to say they are not unique. This cannot be accepted. Prior to the publication of the ombudsman’s report, my Department embarked on a series of monthly meetings with the relevant local authority to discuss the options and supports required to deal with the challenges on this site. These meetings continue and we will support progress being made on the recommendations outlined within the OCO report.

To date, my Department has recouped funding of circa €700,000 to the relevant local authority to carry out essential maintenance works on the site. In April 2020, my Department approved funding of €5.4 million for the development of the adjoining site for Traveller-specific accommodation development. In June this year, I met with the chief executive and senior management of the local authority and asked them to outline their plans to address this issue and the issues raised within the report. I also met families on the site to hear all their views.

My Department has recently supported the employment of a mediator by the relevant local authority to establish baseline data on the site, its occupants and their accommodation requests. It is providing support to the local authority to complete a full health and safety audit of each bay on the site to identify what works are required and has confirmed to the local authority that funding will not be an obstacle to making progress. The Department continues to meet with the local authority on a monthly basis and receive progress reports.

The Traveller accommodation expert group was established by my Department in 2018 to review the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 and other legislation impacting on the provision and delivery of accommodation for Travellers. The expert group presented its report in July 2019. The report sets out an integrated set of recommendations intended to improve the effectiveness of the arrangements for providing accommodation for members of the Traveller community. These recommendations address four key themes: delivery reflecting need, planning, capacity and resources and governance.

Earlier this year I established a programme board to oversee implementation of recommendations from the expert group. The programme board includes two Traveller representatives, the County and City Management Association, CCMA, representatives and two representatives from my Department. It is chaired by the chair of the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee, NTACC. I attend quarterly meetings of the programme board to hear updates on progress being made by the board and members from the committee. The programme board has put in place a programme of work for 2021, which covers 18 of the 32 recommendations. These are being worked on by officials in my Department with the help and support of various other stakeholders.

On funding allocation, to facilitate ease of access to funding, the Department ceased allocating specific budgets to individual local authorities in 2020. Instead, it is open to all local authorities to apply for, and draw down, funds at any time throughout the year and this is actively encouraged by the Department.

On CSO data, the Department has liaised with the CSO regarding the upcoming census to ensure all Travellers are facilitated and participate in census 2022.

Regulations are being implemented shortly to provide for a Traveller identifier on the social housing support application forms. This will allow for evidenced-based planning for Traveller accommodation and will also support the traveller accommodation programmes, TAPs.

On the management and maintenance of Traveller-specific accommodation, I approved a 50% increase in funding for the management and maintenance of halting sites and group housing schemes earlier this year. Research is being commissioned to consider the design and long-term maintenance of Traveller-specific accommodation. This will involve wider stakeholder engagement and consultation and, ultimately, result in updated guidance for local authorities and AHBs in the design of Traveller-specific accommodation.

As part of the work of the programme board the Department will explore the provision of an all-island approach to the provision of a network of transient sites across the island of Ireland and discussions in this regard have begun with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

On the reporting of the provision of new Traveller-specific accommodation, delivery of new Traveller-specific accommodation, such as permanent halting sites and group housing schemes, will be tracked under Housing for All and reported in progress reports against the 50,000 new-build social housing targets.

On the link between local authority development and Traveller accommodation plans, the Office of the Planning Regulator, OPR, has been working closely with my officials on this issue and has just completed and published a case study paper, Traveller Accommodation and the Local Authority Development Plan. This will help inform our work in this area.

Other recommendations currently being worked upon include: social housing assessment regulations, transfer policy from HAP-RAS to Traveller-specific accommodation, use of local authority emergency powers, the Part 8 planning consent process for local authority-own developments and trespass legislation.

On the independent Review of Local Authority Social Workers and Personnel Employed to Assist Travellers with their Accommodation Needs, to ensure that services relating to Traveller accommodation needs adapt and remain relevant, the Department commissioned research into the role of social workers and personnel employed by local authorities to assist Travellers with their accommodation needs. Since the mid-1960s, local authorities have employed social workers to support Travellers in meeting their accommodation needs. Since then, the nature and scale of the demands on local authority housing departments have changed and local authorities have taken on new housing responsibilities. The Department is liaising with the CCMA on the implementation of the recommendations contained within the report.

To ensure Traveller households have access to good quality caravan-trailer accommodation, the Department, following extensive consultation with stakeholders and approval from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, has rolled out a six-month pilot preferential caravan loan scheme in four local authority areas. Following a review of the pilot, which it is hoped will be successful, the intention would be to roll it out nationally during 2022, incorporating whatever changes are deemed necessary arising from the review. The scheme has the potential to significantly improve living conditions for Traveller families and will be fully supported by the Department.

Housing for All: a New Housing Plan for Ireland is the Government’s housing plan to 2030, which was launched earlier this month. It is a multi-annual, multi-billion euro plan that will improve Ireland’s housing system and deliver more homes of all types for people with different housing needs. Some €4 billion in capital is to be invested annually on social and affordable housing. This is the biggest such programme in the history of our State. The Housing for All plan specifically recognises the importance of addressing Traveller accommodation needs as a priority and commits to working with local authorities to improve the quality of housing for Traveller-specific accommodation, fund the ambition of local authority Traveller accommodation plans and grow the Traveller-specific accommodation pipeline.

I thank the Vice Chairman and members for their time. I am happy to take questions.

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