Mr. Bernard Joyce:

Fifty per cent of Travellers do not live beyond the age of 38. It is sad that one has such a young population and yet when one looks at the employment opportunities, they will not live beyond that age.

The other side of that is one is also looking at people living in the housing crisis. Travellers are living in some of the worst conditions that any human being could live in. They are expected to go into mainstream employment without having adequate facilities.

People are generally not living but surviving. We have to move beyond survival to people living, and thinking about opportunities that can prevail. Having to hide one's identity because of shame, stigma or ridicule is fundamentally wrong and flawed. The onus should not be on a young person to have to live with that but must be on the State to respond in such a way that it creates a very open, diverse, inclusive society that is fair and just and supports people regardless of their ethnicity. That is a shame for society and it is a shame that we do not have a national anti-racism strategy in place, that we do not have hate crime legislationin situand that we do not have the political leadership to drive home the message that a person's participation in society is crucial and important, and what a person can bring with his or her skills and trades is part of what our society and economy needs. Travellers have played a fundamental part in the past.

I refer to matters such as the criminal trespass legislation for Travellers who are nomadic, which was introduced in 2000. By-laws have been introduced about horse ownership and the conditions that apply for horses. Ironically, the horses needed to have better living conditions than the Travellers who were living in those conditions. That was quite flawed. Not many Travellers have got permits and licences from local authorities because the conditions have been indirectly discriminatory towards Travellers. The Casual Trading Act 1995 made it hard for Travellers to trade. That vibrant pattern of the Traveller economy and trade was certainly hindered overnight. There is a need to look at not only innovation and employment but also at legislation which has impacted Travellers. To have full employment in society and 80% of Travellers unemployed is flawed and needs political attention. I welcome the political representation in manifestos. We would welcome working with all political parties about how that can be progressed in the lead-in to the general election.