Ms Jacinta Brack:

It would be part of that process under the work of the programme board. Senator O’Reilly mentioned this. The idea, which also covers what I believe are being described as new technology builds, including modular homes, is to take an assessment of the community based on a wide consultation. The expert group report recommended that there be an audit of Traveller need. If that happened at national level, it would feed into the types of development, housing and accommodation that could be built and also cover preferences in the community. One of the difficulties we face in terms of social housing is that Travellers were not included in the social housing needs assessment. That desktop exercise was done at local authority level and was obviously a flawed process. Travellers were included in assessments last year for the first time, but it will be a couple of years before all the information comes through. We need a clear picture of the number of Traveller families across the country who are in need and what their accommodation preferences are and then plan out from that, including in terms of future population growth. In just one year, there have been an additional 500 families in the system seeking different forms of accommodation. We cannot plan appropriately for that at any level where the supply and delivery of social housing and so on are concerned.