Ms Cliodhna O'Neill:

Before we were preparing the Traveller and Roma strategy in the Department, we were working on the Cineáltas programme, which the Deputy and the committee might be familiar with. It is the action plan on bullying, which was published in 2022. As part of the research and preparation for that work, there was a huge amount of engagement and consultation with children and young people. As a result of that programme, the Department set up its dedicated student participation unit to ensure we hear the voice of children. A large number of children and young people were consulted. At some point in that consultation we realised we had not sufficiently heard the voice of Traveller children and young people so we did a specific dedicated consultation as part of that. We probably learned a lot as a Department as to how we did that. We had some very vocal children and young people, including some young Traveller women, who said, "We will only talk to you in this group; we will not talk to you in that group", and so on. We learned a lot. As a result of that, specific actions were included in that strategy because we heard from children and young people about their experiences in school that were negative in that they had been victims of discrimination and bullying. If they had not been a victim, they had a fear that it might happen. That was a really important understanding. Part of that fear stemmed from the fact that they felt a lack of understanding of their culture.

Earlier, we referenced the work of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. Our commitment to this predated the Traveller and Roma strategy. It is in the Cineáltas strategy because it came about from the children and young people saying they wanted to see their culture represented in school, and they wanted it to be a welcoming place for them. I will not say we were doing it anyway but it was part of other work on the well-being of those children and young people in school. While it is an integral part of this strategy, these things knit together. We need these children to feel that school is a welcoming place, where they want to be. Otherwise, how do we get them to go and to stay? We know this is very important.

To the point on whether children have experienced negativity in school, unfortunately they have, as, I am sure, many Travellers can attest to experiencing negativity in wider society. What we are trying to do is make sure this does not happen to the same extent and that there is greater understanding. Ms Cullen outlined how we are working with initial teacher education to ensure that teachers are very well equipped to understand Traveller culture and history and to deal with any issues that might arise. The Cineáltas strategy has a whole-school approach on bullying to equip schools with the knowledge and tools they need to deal with any incidents or issues that might arise. Well-being in school is incredibly important to the success of the rest of the strategy.