Mr. Bernard Joyce:

The level of exclusion and marginalisation relates to one's self-identity. The vast majority of Travellers do not choose to be socially excluded but are excluded regardless. We have seen this even more with our young people. I believe there is a strong connection between mental health, well-being and social inclusion. I also believe that there is a strong connection between one's identity and feeling a sense of pride in one's identity and a sense of belonging. Belonging and that sense of identity have not been accepted, acknowledged or complimented in Irish society in a way that it should be. We see this even more in parts of Ireland where Travellers are dispersed. We have seen young Travellers feel a sense of shame about who they are and their identity, and that is more to do with how society judges the Traveller community. We want to move to a situation where Travellers feel they can belong and feel strong about who they are as people, but also where society acknowledges that. There is so much more that needs to be done in that regard.

As we saw recently, the statistics on education have got even worse because of a lack of resources. When one considers the cuts to the Traveller sector, one sees that no other community has endured the level of cuts that have taken place to education, accommodation and services. We have seen something like an 80% cut in education services. Such cuts are unprecedented compared to other communities and we must ask why is that the case. What we have not touched on in terms of statistics is a strong, underlying aspect that Travellers state that they experience discrimination not once, but a multitude of times in one day. It is not that they go out and experience discrimination once or three times in a lifetime; a young Traveller can experience discrimination three times within an hour of walking out his or her front door. They can experience discrimination in trying to enter a shop, among their peers or in schools. This has an impact on a day-to-day basis. I have referred to the internalised pressure and to the fact more and more Travellers avoid services close to where they live, such as schools, and are moving eight to nine miles to access services outside their towns.

The difference between the unemployment rate for Travellers and that for the general population is almost incomparable. The national figure is 11%, but the figure for Travellers is something like up to 82%. It is absolutely incredible. There is a lack of resources and supports. In terms of employment opportunities, it is absolutely an indictment of the State and the failure of every single Department to deliver adequate resources and address the gap in terms of division, exclusion and marginalisation. Travellers are almost being blamed and held responsible for their unemployment, their treatment and the lack of accommodation, and that is not acceptable.

I do not know whether my colleague would like to add anything.