Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Thank you. We must keep a focus on what we are trying to achieve, the big scene. Often we can get lost in the detail. Our objective has to be to build strong, equal, vibrant Traveller communities. Racial attitudes are incredibly negative towards Travellers and I have not seen any improvement. Equality issues are challenging every day. Accommodation, whether it is halting site or Traveller-specific, is not being dealt with. On the private market Travellers find it incredibly hard to get the housing assistance payment, HAP. For example, 50% of the homeless in Galway city are Travellers even though they are a very small percentage of the population. We know all the statistics about educational disadvantage; we could sing them now if we could sing. We know about employment, or lack of employment. We know that the health outcomes are horrendous.

I have the view, and I say this about many problems, that if meetings, structures, reports and evaluations actually changed the world, the world would be well changed by now and we would not be facing the same old problems.

I will make the following specific points. Is it time we measured our results on the ground? Can we measure the actual improvement, year by year in, for example, accommodation, health, employment and so on? Should we spend more time getting down on the ground and finding out the Traveller community's perspective on the improvements they see in their lives? Having worked in a wide variety of areas, I am aware that people are fairly forthcoming if there are improvements. That is my first question. Are we measuring the inputs and the reports, as the Minister said, or are we measuring the actual outcomes for the community we purport to be targeting with assistance?

I am interested to hear the Minister's view on the following matter. He might outline whether he has a lead role across all Departments to bang heads together on delivery. Does he have, for example, the same powers as the Minister with responsibility for the islands traditionally had from 2002 onwards? The Minister with responsibility for the islands had funds and responsibility for things that might normally fall under the remit of other Departments, for example, transport services, including ferry services, or the building of piers on the islands. That was done directly by the Department with responsibility for the islands. That would be the equivalent of the Minister having the function to provide housing for Travellers. The Minister in that Department had funds to disburse across other Departments at will, as long as those other Departments were delivering. Does the Minister have a role as head of the lead Department, with the funds to go with it, to ensure this gets done or are we still depending on egging along each Department and local authority, and nobody is in control if those Departments do not take action? Would it be better if more funds were channelled centrally through one Department and one Minister had primary responsibility for making sure of delivery? My two questions are whether we measure actual improvements from the bottom up and whether we should change the structure at the very top so that the Government, which is answerable to Oireachtas Éireann, would have somebody with a primary role in this area with the funds to support them. Money controls a lot in this State. It is important that such a Minister would have control of those funds.