Ms RoseMarie Maughan:

Yes, I would. I thank the Senator for his comments and for being one of the very rare politicians who stands up for the delivery of Traveller-specific accommodation. I am sorry to hear about the ongoing abuse he received in the aftermath of his making the right choice. It highlights the reality of Traveller-specific accommodation delivery across the country and brings us back to the reality that we need to bypass the Part 8 stage so we can alleviate this issue and take away that pressure on and abuse of local representatives. It is unfair that they get that but, most importantly, it is unfair that Traveller children are left in inhumane conditions for decades. We have to be the generation that changes that.

To pick up on Mr. Collins's point, the information the Senator seeks is widely available. It is in the public domain. In addition, the ITM has done its own analysis and critique of that. That is available to all committee members and I am sure Ms Brack will forward it all on to them.

I am a bit concerned about the reference to antisocial behaviour. There is antisocial behaviour within every community in Ireland but it is only Travellers who are penalised as a majority and it is only Traveller children who are not afforded their rights because some members of the community engage in antisocial behaviour. It is very concerning that the matter is even brought into the conversation because a minority of people engaging in antisocial behaviour should not lead to or justify the oppression of 40,000 Travellers, which is, as Mr. Collins rightly points out, a humanitarian crisis but not acknowledged as such. We need to start acknowledging the violation of human rights in this country. It is no good looking abroad and seeing the human rights violations in other countries and other regions and then turning around and oppressing our own indigenous people for decades. It is no longer good enough.