Mr. T.J. Hogan:

There are a lot of activists in our community and we have a lot of men and women who are role models. If we wait another generation, unfortunately we will lose those activists. The truth of the matter is that three weeks ago I was asked a question in my employment as to whether I wanted to set up a pension. Looking at the statistics on Traveller men, there is a high suicide rate and only 1% of Traveller men live beyond the age of 60. Given the age of retirement, do I really want to put money into a kitty that I will never use? The truth of the matter is many Travellers are in this space. The health statistics are shocking. The suicide rates are so high and there are eternal issues among the community. It is very hard to ask Travellers to think about employment when all of these issues are going on. If we do not have a targeted approach, we will lose the Travellers who want employment and are asking about jobs in our primary and secondary schools. If there are no options for them now, we will lose another generation of Travellers to poor health, poor accommodation and high suicide rates.

The ideology that if we wait a generation so we can be all-inclusive is an idea that we will further marginalise Travellers. Recently, we heard comments from a political standpoint and on a national basis. If we go on Facebook and pull up a video of a night out or wedding posted by a Traveller, the discrimination and what is said on social media and in public are absolutely disgusting. We are not going forward far enough on hate crime, particularly regarding the Traveller community, and this has a knock-on effect on how we view employment.

We need to take a collective approach to allowing Travellers to progress, and their progression needs to be supported and targeted.

Regarding the quota, the community needs to have a conversation internally. If we do not provide supports now, we will lose another generation. It will be too late and we will be wiped out.