Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Yes, that amendment is on a different theme.

Amendment No. 306 is about the obligations to make and review a development plan. Effectively, it provides that the planning authority should take due account of each local authority's Traveller accommodation plan. This reflects recommendations made about this Bill by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission with regard to Traveller-specific housing. Amendment No. 769 is about local authority development and State authority development.

Travellers are consistently over-represented in homelessness. In some local authority areas they make up 50% of homeless families despite accounting for just 1% of the overall population. There have been instances of Travellers being refused access to emergency accommodation due to the dubious use of local connection rules. We saw with the devastating fire at Carrickmines the huge cost that can arise when there is not proper planning and investment in housing for Traveller accommodation. Pavee Point commissioned a report from the independent researcher, Mr. Brian Harvey, which found that 39% of Traveller households are overcrowded and 29% of Travellers live in severe housing deprivation. A report by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission found that Travellers are 22 times more likely than members of the general population to be discriminated against in the private rental sector. That is relevant because when Travellers are not having their housing needs met through the housing and planning systems they are reliant on getting accommodation in the private rental sector. They are, however, 22 times more likely to be discriminated against than members of the general population in the very difficult private rented sector where supply is very tight and costs are very high, which makes the situation even worse.

A periodic review was recently published by the UN's Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The committee made specific comments and expressed concern over the persistence of homelessness in Ireland, including among marginalised groups, including Travellers. It called on the Government to ensure adequate access to culturally appropriate accommodation for Traveller and Roma communities.

An expert group examined the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 and made a number of recommendations with regard to planning. It found an inadequate connection between the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act and planning legislation, a lack of adequate planning guidance for planning authorities concerning Traveller accommodation and a lack of monitoring and reviewing of development plans and how they relate to Traveller accommodation. There is a range of issues that needs to be urgently addressed.

The Ombudsman for Children compiled a report entitled, No End in Site: An investigation into the living conditions of children living on a local authority site. The report is about the lived experiences of some of the young people living in those conditions. In it, girl 16 says “it’s hell”; girl 7 says “it’s all mud and all and then you fall and cut ourselves all the time and our friends can’t go and visit us”; girl 12 says “walking up to school you see all the rats ... they would be running up and down the walls of the trailer”; girl 14 says “people ask why I’m dirty, but I’d be ashamed to say. I don’t want to say it was from walking out of the site”; boy 11 says “we’ve no swings or nothing, like nothing to play with”; boy 7 says “we only play in puddles”; and boy 12 says “I’d like to have friends home but I’d be too embarrassed”. The report continues in that vein. It gives a devastating insight into the poor conditions many children in this country are living in because the planning and housing systems, in terms of Traveller accommodation, have failed. They have not only failed the children who live in those conditions but also the adults. Much but not all of this is a planning issue. It is around how we plan housing and Traveller-specific accommodation and how that relates to development plans and the Traveller accommodation plans that have been adopted at local authority level. It is also about how the first amendment in the group relates to planning statements.

If the Minister of State is not going to accept these amendments, I ask him to tell us what he is going to do to at least deal with the spirit of them on Report Stage.