Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)

I echo the concerns of others about the attitudes and approach of local authorities. I welcome the cross-government approach of Departments, but at a local level I have concerns about how local authorities engage with the Traveller community, particularly in my own city of Cork. I spoke to a constituent recently, a Traveller woman with real housing need, who contacted the council on multiple occasions and did not even receive a response. This is a woman with real housing need. The council is refusing to respond to some queries it receives. There remain cultural issues within some of our local authorities and there is a lack of support being provided to some people with real needs. I thank our witnesses for all of their work on this issue and on other human rights issues.