Ms Nuala Ward:

If the Senator looks at the guidance in the legislation, because of the nomadic nature of Travellers and their annual movements, which we all know about, local authorities are supposed to make provision for that swell and disappearance of people on these sites, and that was not addressed. The key piece is the Traveller accommodation plan.

That is how you should identify accommodation needs and make plans to meet the needs, and that should have been in place and closely monitored to prevent this happening. As can be seen from our report, that did not happen. The legislative basis for the Traveller accommodation plan was to address the discrimination that Travellers experience in relation to meeting accommodation needs in Ireland. The failure to meet the basic minimum legislation requirements in this regard is a key contributor for why this overcrowding was left year on, year on, and its impact on children.