John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I am sure I will figure it out as we go along. I thank Mr. O'Sullivan for the copy provided.

What role or remit does the social inclusion unit of the Department have other than funding for the provision of Traveller-specific accommodation? Something that used to frustrate me as a member of a local authority, which relates to standard housing projects, was the length of time it took between the local authority developing a concept and when we might see some development under Part 8. What length of time are we speaking about for the Department to process an application from a local authority for Traveller-specific accommodation?

Perhaps my next question relates to the point Deputy Ellis was going to make at the end of his contribution. I have a couple of questions about monitoring. Do we monitor which local authorities draw down funding and which do not? Do we monitor the Traveller accommodation programmes to see which local authorities meet their own objectives? I know there is a role for the members of the local authorities in this also. Is it the social inclusion unit, or does the Department have another unit that monitors whether standards are being maintained in Traveller-specific accommodation, particularly on halting sites? Is there another monitoring body that does this, perhaps an NGO?

I did not get the figure given for current expenditure this year. I heard that there was €23 million for capital funding. Do local authorities have experience of having applications to the social inclusion unit declined or refused? Are there local authorities building, or proposing to build, more than what might be expected of them through their Traveller accommodation programmes? Are we confident the Department has the resources to make sure it meets the demands of the Traveller accommodation programme in each local authority?

I recognise the numbers supplied to us in terms of Traveller households being housed and how that number has increased in recent years. Do we have a census of Traveller accommodation per local authority? Do we know whether the Traveller accommodation programme is designed to meet the needs of the entire Traveller population? This has been mentioned in response to Deputy Ellis with regard to existing need. Some work has been done on the housing needs assessment. Is it relative to the population of the Traveller community? This issue relates to an earlier point. Is the expenditure seen in each local authority relative to the Traveller community population in that local authority area?

On the caravan loan scheme, I have some concerns that some members of the Traveller community find the application process difficult. Will the witnesses outline specifically what the application process is? Do people apply to the local authority? If so, what is the Department's role in it? Should it not simply be that the Department gives an allocation to the local authority, which then assesses the applicants and provides the loan or not?

Is it duplication if there is additional work after that?