Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 18 September 2025
Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community
Implementation of National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy II and Action Plan 2024-2026: Department of Children, Disability and Equality
2:00 am
Dessie Ellis (Dublin North-West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Ms Baxter for that. I am glad there is progress being made, from what I can see. I suppose there are huge challenges with the attitudes and we have to address the inequalities that face the communities, whether Roma or Traveller.
On the two-year action plan and the strategy going to 2028, Ms Baxter said the Department has done an assessment there and has looked recently at how that is progressing. Will she give some insight into how that is progressing?
I do not know whether the Department deals with a lot of the inconsistencies in local authorities. There are a lot of inconsistencies across local authorities in how they deal with Travellers and Roma families, especially when it comes to housing. I wanted to raise that. There are also issues - it is not necessary for Ms Baxter to respond to this - with early learning and childcare and the meals and stuff that are provided to families, particularly in DEIS areas where meals are laid on for some. Some of them go to school and they do not even have a meal. Maybe Ms Baxter could give us an insight into that.
There are 17 family link workers supporting parents. Are some of them designated for Roma and some of them for Travellers? Ms Baxter mentioned that two workers engage specifically with Roma families.
Traveller Pride Week is huge and the funding that comes from the Department is massive and badly needed. On the heritage issue, the highlighting of Traveller heritage is very important. I always remember that on Dunsink Lane there used be the old-style caravans and we used to see pictures of people fixing or even making utensils, etc. It is important to get that out there and highlight it.
The employment issue is obviously a major challenge. We do not have many, if any, Roma and Traveller employed in the local authorities. There is an initiative the Department is working on to get people to look towards getting jobs in the Civil Service or elsewhere. Maybe Ms Baxter could outline some of that as well.