Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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Thank you very much, Ms Ward. I will let Senator Freeman in presently because I know time is against her. I will be quick. I have some observations to make on which I seek your views.

Lest I be accused of being party political, a C+ grade is not good enough for this State. An F grade on homelessness is disgraceful. Our national legacy of the treatment of Travellers, regardless of what we have done in respect of ethnicity, is a problem. I worked as a member of the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality during the last Dáil. I worked extensively with the then Chairman of that committee, and now Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, Deputy Stanton. Our collective failure to provide Traveller accommodation throughout the State is nothing short of a disgrace. I want to put all of those matters out into the open straight away.

There is one thing I find most frustrating. Ms Ward hit the nail straight on the head in starting out by making the clear and unambiguous statement that the number of children in consistent levels of poverty has reduced dramatically in the recent past. Yet, on every occasion when we have this conversation, especially in Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann, the opposite information is being presented as fact. I find it incredibly frustrating that the narrative is being created in the political world in this country to the effect that we, as a State and all its institutions, whether they be State-sponsored or NGOs, are failing in their duties or responsibilities in respect of consistent levels of child poverty or those at risk of child poverty. The opposite is the case. That is something I am keen to put on the record.

One of the questions I have relates to Travellers and I am pleased that Ms Ward has raised the point. When I was going through all the submissions yesterday one point jumped out at me having worked on the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality during the last Dáil. How do we change the attitude of local authorities and their councillors, especially in the context of a local election in two weeks? How do we change the attitude of council members? At times, for sound reasons, they refuse to permit local authorities to expend moneys on sites that are down back country lanes with absolutely no services whatsoever. At other times, there are out-and-out objections for the sake of it. How does the State grasp this contentious nettle and provide the services that we should be providing to an ethnically recognised part of our society? How do we ensure that the area where we have a particular interest, that is to say, where the children of Traveller families throughout the State find themselves in deplorable conditions, is addressed? Does Ms Ward have advice to offer to the committee?