Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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Good morning to all of our witnesses and I thank them for coming in. From my accent, they will know I am from Cork and not from Mayo, so I will concentrate on Cork.

A number of years ago, I sat on the Cork County Council Traveller committee. This issue has been going on for a long time. I welcome the news that the stage 2 funding is on track and also the other information given in the opening statement. We have discussed this at the committee and we knew there were specific issues with regard to Spring Lane. It was a question of communication more than anything else, and when there is no two-way communication, things can go belly-up very fast. I welcome Mr. Geaney's statement that the engagement was lengthy and resource-intensive and that this form of direct consultation was necessary. Of course, it was. To go back to the early part of the statement, Mr. Geaney mentioned that the city council listened to each family and this was based on their specific needs. It is brilliant that we are coming to that stage. I know it takes a lot of work and that has to be commended.

Fair play to Mr. Geaney for being totally honest in his statement when he said that €40,000 is totally inadequate as a loan. I would like to know how we, as a committee, can assist the council to increase that.

We have spoken here in numerous meetings about thinking outside the box. Mr. Geaney mentioned modular homes. Are they a better long-term option? He also mentioned the residential standard mobile home, which would cost well over €40,000 a pop.

I commend the witnesses on the unified effort in the city council. I hope it is the same with Cork County Council. It is a difficult job. How can the committee help? Mr. Geaney made a couple of recommendations. He said that, given costs, €40,000 was insufficient. He also said "The number of loan allocations should be increased where strong demand from families is being experienced". Is the council being restricted from increasing the amount of loans? Is there a problem and a way we can assist?

If there are red-tape issues, can the committee assist the council with that? This is not about a picking competition. It is about the committee trying to assist the council and being a link to central government. We need honesty as well as clarity. With honesty, we can be the stepping stone to assist any county or city council in moving things forward.

Let us be frank: the loan is not good enough. From what I have heard here from Cork City Council, it wants the loan allocations increased. There must be a problem if the council cannot increase the amount of loans given out. What is the problem there? If we can assist, it should just tell us how.

Why it is so hard to get extra allocations of loans out? Should each specific application for accommodation be assessed on the basis of need, in other words, there should not be a limit of €40,000 for a substandard mobile home? How do we get over that hurdle? If the witnesses think, realistically, the minimum should be €80,000 or €100,000, just tell us so we have it on the record. We can then tell the Government that things have to change and this is what the ballpark figure is. The council cannot do its job and assist the people without resources. There is no point going in with a half bottle of milk when it needs a full bottle.