Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Since last weekend's tragedy at Carrickmines, disturbing information has come to light on conditions on halting sites across the State and the lack of investment by the Government and local authorities in recent years. A tremendous article by Kitty Holland was published in The Irish Timeswhich made devastating reading. The Carrickmines site was overcrowded; 29 people were sleeping in cabins and caravans at the time of the fire. Dún Laoighaire-Rathdown County Council is one of 15 local authorities in the State that have drawn down no funding this year for Traveller accommodation. In the past seven years funding for accommodating members of the Traveller community has been cut by a shocking 93%, from €70 million in 2008 to €4.3 million this year. Of the 10,226 Traveller families in the State, 445 are living on unauthorised sites by the side of the road without anything but the most basic facilities. Some 104 families are living on basic serviced sites such as that on Glenamuck Road. A further 223 families are sharing halting site bays with other families, while 37 are sharing basic halting site bays with other families. In addition, 727 families are sharing houses with other families. A total of 1,536 families are living in overcrowded or unsafe conditions. This cannot continue. Will the Government immediately work with the Traveller representative groups to ensure lessons are learned from this tragedy and that Traveller families across the State will be provided with the safe and adequate accommodation they need?

See this speech in context