Mr. Martin Collins:

It goes back to that point we are all making that there needs to be an effective legislative framework in place that offers an effective legal redress when discrimination occurs, specifically, as I said, in relation to licensed premises, restaurants, pubs and hotels. There is not an effective legal remedy available for Travellers there. This was acknowledged by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, CERD, which monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, in 2019. That needs to be fixed. The jurisdiction concerning licensed premises needs to go back to the WRC, where it was previously in the form of the Equality Tribunal. That is one step that would need to happen.

As I stated earlier, it is about getting the information out there, with a public information awareness campaign to the community, when the legislation is enacted on the potential it offers in vindicating people's rights. That information needs to be given out in a clear and accessible way to the community at grassroots level. That is the task that will need to happen once the legislation is enacted. There is also the issue of funding and resourcing for Traveller organisations working with Roma people and Travellers, particularly in the area of legal advice and expertise. At present, we get great support from IHREC and the Free Legal Advice Centres, FLAC. As I said earlier on, FLAC have two legal units - one offering advice to Roma and the other offering advice to Travellers.