Dr. Iris Elliott:

I thank the Senator for his question. I want to respond in a number of different ways. There has been a criminalisation of nomadism and there is a need for positive measures by the State to support nomadism in the culture of Travellers. That starts with legal recognition of Travellers in a way that allows them to vindicate the rights they have. That matter has been raised by a number of international committees. Because there is no legal basis for recognition of the Traveller community as an ethnic minority, there is a limit to the support they receive and to their ability to access their rights.

There is also a concern in the commission that not only through legislation but also policy, practice, service provision and the lack of data and evidence, there is an undermining of nomadic lifestyles. That is a concern for us in Ireland. Because of our role under the Good Friday Agreement, we take an all-island perspective, which is particularly important for nomadic lifestyles. Our sister body, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, has done research on Traveller rights from an all-island perspective. There is a growing concern for us that the culture of nomadism is being undermined by the lack of culturally appropriate accommodation and the lack of access to supports for Traveller cultural practice. That will have a generational impact. We are in a concerning period.

To speak to the criminalisation of nomadism, one of the things we have recognised is that there has been legislation proposed on the Statute Book for years and it never progresses. The legislation on the control of horses, for example, needs to be changed. Mr. Herrick spoke about the practice of evictions. Legislators can positively build a legislative framework to remove legislative provisions that criminalise the Traveller community.

I also draw the attention of the committee to, and will talk more about, the work we have done around access to justice for Travellers. IHREC and the Irish Research Council commissioned a research report on Irish Travellers' access to justice. Within that, it was clear that there is a lack of trust of the justice system at all stages among the Traveller community. It also showed that they are overpoliced and underprotected, and yet would persistently have a commitment to law and order. There are particular groups who are over-represented within the Irish prison system, particularly Traveller women. We only know that because the Irish Prison Service has introduced an ethnic identifier. We do not even really know the full extent of the criminalisation of the Traveller community because other public parts of the justice system do not collect that information.