Ms Sinéad Carr:

I hear the concerns of the Deputy in relation to human rights. All of us have a duty around addressing those. Can I give an example? Sometimes, evidence is important on a more local level. The Traveller population represents about 1.4% of our waiting list. In 2024, 4.5% of those people were allocated accommodation in accordance with their needs. That is a reasonable approach in terms of making sure we address the matter. It is extraordinarily complicated at times with some of the more marginalised families. That is not just for the Traveller population; that includes homeless people who may not be Travellers. They need a significant level of intervention, and that cannot just be on the housing side. That is why I stress that there should be a more holistic approach in terms of addressing the needs of those particularly vulnerable individuals.

In terms of the accommodation issue and funding from the Department, the first thing I would say is that everybody has to live within a budget.

In all fairness, where I have exceptional issues raised in relation to accommodation - when I need additional funding to deal with a particular issue with a particular family - I have never found the Department wanting. This is being genuine about it.

On the question of whether I would like more flexibility in relation to how the funding is spent, yes I would. It will not be a surprise to hear this, but many of the families we are dealing with now would nearly prefer a modular unit rather than a mobile home. These units have a longer lifespan. In my view, we need to move into that space because it offers better value for money and meets the need. Having said that, to be fair to the Department, any time we have had a particularly difficult issue concerning a very vulnerable family, it has never been found wanting.