Dessie Ellis (Dublin North-West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms McDonagh and Ms Joyce. I will probably touch on a few things they already said. When it comes to child protection or family support, the first thing is they must have proper accommodation. They must have proper housing and facilities. The record of local authorities is so bad when it comes to Travellers. They have not even spent money in certain cases. That could be for people with disabilities or children with disabilities. There seems to be a very bad record. I am curious about fostering in the Traveller community. Is most of the fostering outside of the Traveller community? That is something you would not like to see because families are being broken up or pulled away from their culture and the people they know. I am sure that is a big issue between Travellers and Tusla. From listening to the witnesses, there is no doubt there is a lot of friction between families and Tusla. That comes across.

The mental health issue has been huge in the Traveller community and the high rate of suicide. It seems still to be at a very high level. We do not seem to have made a major dent in it, whether it is very young children as in my own area. It is appalling that we do not seem to be making a dent. Will the witnesses give us an idea if any inroads are being made in that area? The proper assessment of children whether in schools by CDNTs or others is a big issue. Children are not getting assessed at the right age. Sometimes it goes beyond the age. By what the Government tells us, over six is too late and it should be done before six years of age. That seems to be very hit and miss. Will the witnesses tell us more about that?

My next question is about training in terms of Traveller families or others wanting to get trained as carers and social workers. Is there good uptake? If people want to do it and we are not able to recruit them or funding is not available, is there demand and plenty of people who can deliver this? That is another issue.