Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 2 October 2025
Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community
Child Protection and Family Support: Discussion
2:00 am
Ms Sandra McDonagh:
I will go backwards because I remember that last item the Deputy spoke about regarding roles and jobs. We are working with the HSE in Offaly to try to roll out another kind of apprenticeship programme in line with the Laois and Offaly ETB and the HSE where people will be brought in for a number of positions in the HSE. They will be trained on the job and there will be jobs available to them. We are fairly early on but the commitment from the HSE and ETB is huge. In the community, we have had a number of people who are really willing to engage. I hope we will see it happen very shortly. It relates to the discrimination and stigma. Travellers will not avail of these things without the support of the likes of our organisation because of the trust in the organisation. There is huge trust in our local organisation. When we try to work with the local community and develop programmes or initiatives with them, there is a huge response. That might not be the case if it was a statutory organisation coming out with these ideas. They need the support of the local organisation, Traveller engagement and Travellers within the organisations.