Ms Sinéad Carr:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to come before it. I am a member of the County and City Management Association housing committee, chief executive of Tipperary County Council and a member of the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee. I am accompanied here today by my colleagues, Mr. Frank D'Arcy, executive manager housing services in Dublin County Council and Mr. Brian Kennedy and Ms Patricia Phillips, director of services and senior executive officer in Limerick City and County Council.

On behalf of the CCMA, we welcome the opportunity to appear before the Joint Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community. Local authorities remain committed to delivering good quality, sustainable, and culturally appropriate accommodation to Traveller families. This includes the provision of halting sites, group housing, standard social housing, rural housing and mobile homes, depending on local needs. The programme also prioritises the ongoing maintenance, upgrading and retrofitting of existing accommodation to ensure safe, secure and dignified living environments.

Local authorities also work in close partnership with approved housing bodies, the HSE, Tusla, local development companies and NGOs, including Traveller representative organisations, the Department of education and other key stakeholders to support Traveller families not just with housing but with broader social, health and educational needs. Dedicated staff, including social workers and Traveller liaison officers, also play a vital role in this effort.

In the context of the Traveller accommodation programme, TAP, the CCMA has encouraged strong community engagement, particularly through local Traveller accommodation consultative committees, to ensure local plans are aligned with Traveller preferences. In conjunction with the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee, it is hoped that we can continue to pursue greater improvements in the consultation space with members of the Traveller community in designing and delivering accommodation appropriate to families’ needs. The estimated accommodation delivery programme for 2025 to 2029 is 3,424 units and of these, 718 will traveller appropriate accommodation.

Under the previous Traveller accommodation plan running from 2020 to 2024, local authorities provided accommodation for 3,358 members of the Traveller community. Of the total number of units provided, 773 units constituted what is termed “Traveller appropriate accommodation”. The remainder of accommodation provided to members of the Traveller community were standard housing as per their preference and it is important that this is recognised as one of the preferred forms of housing for members of this community.

While progress has been made, the CCMA accepts that much more needs to be done and the local authority sector will continue to focus on building on the positive work undertaken to date with all of the key stakeholders.

In the context of budgets, local authorities remain committed to the delivery of culturally appropriate Traveller accommodation, in line with the needs outlined in the plans. Capital spend from 2020 to 2024 amounted to just over €101 million nationally. This indicates strong engagement overall. In 2025, a further €23 million has been allocated to date and it is anticipated that local authorities will continue to draw down capital funds in line with their capital plans for culturally appropriate Traveller accommodation.

Maintenance spend on Traveller-specific accommodation is a significant cost and varies from local authority to local authority. Fire safety remains a priority. Local authorities continue annual site inspections and progress the necessary upgrades. In total, €13 million was recouped by local authorities from the Department for Traveller-specific accommodation maintenance between 2020 and 2024. Specific maintenance costs are recouped by local authorities, covering partial caretaker salaries, capped contributions to halting site repairs, and skip hire. Local authorities also fund management and maintenance costs from their own budgets. The CCMA recommends sustained departmental support for these measures.

Local authorities continue to face significant delivery challenges in relation to the delivery and the maintenance of Traveller accommodation on a number of fronts including land availability, site constraints, planning challenges, public opposition, the changing requests of families to be accommodated, managing expectations due to a lack of clarity around what is understood as Traveller-appropriate accommodation and difficulties progressing Traveller-preferred projects within timelines.

Notwithstanding this, there are positive examples around the country where local authorities have advanced projects in collaboration with Traveller communities, placing a strong emphasis on co-design and community engagement. For example, Limerick City and County Council has worked with Rathkeale Together, a community-based organisation, funded by West Limerick Resources, and residents from Hillview halting site to agree on the works for the redevelopment of the site. Works are expected to be completed in July 2025. This work is to include solar panels to help with fuel poverty. Residents took ownership at the start of the project and continue to engage throughout the process.

On homelessness, as is the trend with the general population, homelessness amongst the Traveller community is rising. It is difficult to obtain an accurate robust figure on this area, however, as not every Traveller wishes to identify as such. Anecdotally, there does appear to be a growing trend of homelessness among newly-formed young Traveller families entering emergency accommodation and this is an area that will be reviewed by the homeless subcommittee of the CCMA housing committee. As with the general population, there appears to be a variety of reasons for homeless presentations including issues around addiction, mental health, family breakdown, feuding, domestic violence and overcrowding. An indicative number of Travellers who were in homeless emergency accommodation in 2024 is 549. To date in 2025, that number is approximately 432 but again these figures need to be interpreted with caution.

Local authorities continue to develop community-focused initiatives that support Traveller inclusion and engagement, particularly in Traveller-specific accommodation. A growing number of councils are working with Traveller groups to establish local residents' forums. For example, Limerick City and County Council supported the formation of a residents’ group earlier this year by delivering tailored training on how resident forums operate. This group later participated in a community-wide clean-up initiative demonstrating positive outcomes for both residents and the wider community.

Experience over the years has demonstrated that delivery of homes alone to some members of the Traveller community is not sufficient in the context of sustaining their tenancy, improving their quality of life or empowering them to access the same opportunities as others within the general population. In addition to accommodation provision, local authorities have continued to provide specific supports to the more marginalised families within the Traveller community in the context of tenancy sustainment support, Housing First supports and social care support.

Most local authorities also make particular provision for targeted project-based supports and engagement to members of the Traveller community in the form of sporting activity, library supports, heritage supports and supports in the engagement in the arts, among others. Local authorities have also taken a lead role in a number of interagency initiatives that support the enablement and empowerment of Travellers in the educational and job readiness areas.

The caravan loan scheme, revised and promoted under Circular 08/2025, is intended to support Travellers in purchasing mobile accommodation.

The Department of housing has reported that all local authorities received a caravan loan scheme allocation for 2025, with some receiving additional funding following direct engagement. The Department has indicated it expects a full spend of the total amount allocated under the scheme. In conclusion, the CCMA is committed to delivering an appropriate range of housing and related support services in an integrated and sustainable manner. The CCMA continues to work with the necessary stakeholders in that regard. While it is acknowledged there are notable challenges in the delivery of accommodation, local authorities will continue to work in partnership with stakeholders to assist Traveller families to ensure their accommodation needs are met. The CCMA also supports a definition of culturally appropriate accommodation to provide clarity for all stakeholders involved. We welcome the opportunity to engage in dialogue and are happy to answer any questions the committee has.