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

I trust the Taoiseach will address the investment issues I have raised and also the lack of leadership that has been shown, not only at Government level but also at local level across the State.

I have one more request to make of the Taoiseach today. For too long there has been a wall of distrust between the settled and Traveller communities in this State. Yesterday, some local residents in Glenamuck formed a blockade in protest at the plans to rehouse, on an emergency basis, those who have been left homeless by this inferno. It is a depressing spectacle but it reflects the wall of distrust that has been in existence for many years. We need citizens to show compassion and I hope the residents - who are meeting the council today - can facilitate this emergency arrangement.

There is a need for education and understanding between the two communities, and that is a two-way process. The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality recommended quite some time ago that this State recognise the ethnicity of our Traveller people, something that has been called for by international human rights bodies to which we subscribe. It is time for the State to respect the unique contribution of Traveller communities in terms of their music, their language and their adherence to the ancient nomadic ways. We need to teach their history in our schools and break down the barriers and the walls that exist. It is time for this State to build the bridges of understanding. It is time to build on the solidarity that is there after this horrific tragedy.

Will the Taoiseach stand up in this Chamber and recognise the ethnicity of the Traveller people? Will he show the necessary leadership, although it will not just be required by him but by elected representatives across the State? Can we finally address the injustice of the report on itinerancy from the 1960s that perceived this as a dirty problem that had to be swept under the carpet? Can we once and for all be honest about the huge wall of distrust and take down the barriers? Can we recognise their ethnicity and start from there?

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