Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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The bonus is that a Cork fella speaks much faster. We will get much more in in a shorter bit of time.

I will follow on from one or two things. Deputy Ó Cuív spoke about making Traveller-specific accommodation exempt from the planning process. Would the Minister of State agree with a suggestion like that to expedite things? That is my first question.

The Minister of State spoke about the caravan loan scheme and the possible review of all the second-hand or unsuitable trailers in the community. Would a review be taken on that?

The Minister of State mentioned a lot of the younger Traveller community are going into housing estates and that there is a generational change. Has there been major engagement with the Traveller community on options like modular homes, which might be better value than the trailer loan scheme, and educating people about the differences and benefits that weigh out on that? Would that be possible?

I was lucky enough to sit in the Traveller consultative committee in Cork County Council a long time ago. Some brilliant and fabulous work and engagement was done. The engagement between the Travelling community and council officials was, at times, fairly feisty but also straight and honest. In the Minister of State’s opinion, should there be a national Traveller accommodation authority specifically set up for this role that could concentrate on it, would benefit the local authorities and would be the central link between local authority and central government? It would give them the opportunity to engage with the Traveller community and have the information about the options.

Where there is a Traveller family living in a council house but they have a children with additional needs and the houses are not fit for purpose, is there a way of addressing that through the consultative committee? I will be brief. I have a case where I have a young Traveller family with four children living in a house. Two of the children have autism, one of whom is high on the spectrum. I see where the council is coming from. It cannot put locks on the windows upstairs, but the child got out an upstairs window one evening. It could have been an absolute disaster. I can see where the council says it cannot put locks on it. The family needs to put locks on it because the accommodation is not suitable for the children’s and family’s needs. I wanted to flag that with the Minister of State.

The main questions are on a national Traveller accommodation authority and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission call for Traveller-specific accommodation to be exempt from the planning process. What does the Minister of State think about that? As I said, if the national Traveller authority was set up, could the differences be eyed up between trailers, modular homes and homes in situ? That would be a massive benefit. People are not aware or are not being made aware of options and it has been very difficult.

Finally, the €40,000 loan scheme is totally and utterly unsuitable. People spend more on a car now. That definitely has to be addressed.

I thank the Minister of State for his patience.