Ms Annmarie Sweeney:

Mention has been made of domestic violence, addiction and services. I have been in and out of these services for many years, and I have been in the criminal justice system, which leads me to ask a question. Why do Traveller women in addiction not come forward, and what are the barriers and their fears? In a lot of services I have come across and in a lot of the programmes I have been in, both personally and professionally, I very rarely come across Traveller women. Last year, I was in the Dóchas Centre to give a speech as part of International Women's Day and there were 70 Traveller women from all over the country there. So it is not that they do not exist. I would be worried about their fears and concerns. They may feel they cannot come forward because of discrimination or they may have a fear of losing their kids. Mostly, Traveller women are seen as the backbone of the family and they do not come forward because they are afraid. There may be a fear of discrimination. So that means we are not getting them into mental health or domestic violence services. Traveller women face a lot of different barriers. This has been left out of the picture. Their voices are lost. You only have to step into the Dóchas Centre or any other women's prison to notice that they are there and they are just getting lost.