Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Traveller community and Traveller women are marginalised. With addiction, there is no hierarchy. It is not a case of women versus men. The statistics are stark. The two commonalities are State neglect and poverty, which have a traumatic and unfathomable effect on all of the communities we have talked about here today.

I will make a few comments. It is great that people are trying. It is a pity that this has been lost in the bigger picture. Our witnesses are the experts by experience. They are the people on the ground who can drive programmes and be respected by the cool gang, especially when speaking to young kids. I think we just do not get our communities. This applies to whoever is working from the drawing board. I am sorry for being parochial but in the Liberties it seems the powers that be have decided that all we need are coffee shops and tourist accommodation.

Yet, the indigenous people, or whatever you want to call them, are either homeless or moving out to God knows where and different counties all over, which means communities are fractured. Gentrification is going to happen, but it is a case of how we marry the two aspects. Youths are running around now, as they were last year, gathering wood for the bonfire and they do not understand why we cannot have bonfires. I do not understand it either. Who in their right mind in the council – I will not mention which council – decided to give them a bulb instead of a bonfire? Let us instead introduce the youths to the community garda and fire chief and build a safe community bonfire. The bonfires cannot be all over the place, but they still will be because we have decided to give a bulb instead. We are just not getting it.

We are building and planning communities without community involvement. Young people have no place and no say in the regeneration of their complexes or areas. It is the same for Travellers. If the authorities do not respect areas and decide doing so is important, starting with the likes of maintaining windows, why should young people think they need to respect their area? I know a young girl of 14 whose bedroom window was smashed on the day she was born and she is still waiting for it to be fixed. Why would she then think she needs to respect her area? If you do not get respect from the authorities or the seniors, it is difficult. You need a good parent and good, steady security. We need to flip on its head what community means. I thank the witnesses. I am really passionate about this. We are failing.