Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:

"extends its sincere condolences and sympathy to the Lynch, Gilbert and Connors families on the tragic loss of their loves ones in the Carrickmines fire and offers solidarity and support to the wider Traveller community;

agrees that in the aftermath of the Carrickmines tragedy there is an urgent need for a far-reaching and fundamental reappraisal of the position of Travellers in Irish society and that this will require a significant shift in individual and community attitudes to inculcate mutual respect and understanding as between Travellers and the settled community;

recognises that:— Travellers experience poorer outcomes in key social indicators including employment, poverty, health, infant mortality, life expectancy, literacy, education and accommodation and face enduring discrimination; and

— a further effort by Government Departments, agencies and Traveller organisations at national and local level working in partnership is required to address the root cause of these problems and to bring about greater mutual understanding and respect as between Travellers and the settled community;recalls the recommendations of the April 2014 Report by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality on the Recognition of Traveller Ethnicity;

notes that accommodation for Travellers is provided through a range of measures and that it is open to Travellers to opt for any form of accommodation, including:— standard local authority housing, financed from the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government capital allocations for social housing;

— Traveller-specific accommodation, also financed by the Department;

— private housing assisted by the State, including local authorities, or voluntary organisations; and

— through Travellers’ own resources;recognises that, while there has been a general decrease in Traveller-specific accommodation funding, some €400 million has been invested in the provision and support of Traveller-specific accommodation over the last 15 years. The 2015 allocation totalled €4.3 million and an increase in the budget for 2016 has been agreed to €5.5 million;

recognises and supports the continuing valuable work of the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee, NTACC, including the advice and supports it provides to the Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committees, LTACCs;

notes the continued delivery of Traveller-specific accommodation through the provision of funding to local authorities through the Traveller Accommodation Programme, supported at national level by the NTACC. The implementation of the Traveller Accommodation Programme of each local authority, including the drawdown of funds, is in accordance with the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, a matter of each individual authority;

recognises that local authorities are already mandatorily required under section 10 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, to incorporate zoning objectives to provide for Traveller-specific accommodation in their development plans;

notes:— that additional resources provided in the educational system for all children, including members of the Traveller community, are allocated on the basis of identified individual educational need; that a key objective of the Traveller Education Strategy is the phasing out of segregated Traveller provision; and that additional resources have been provided to assist with the transfer of Traveller children and young people to mainstream provision, including additional pupil capitation, together with additional resource teacher posts to support the approximately 11,000 Traveller pupils in primary and post-primary education; and

— the substantial investment made in building the capacity of the Traveller community, through the Local and Community Development Programme, LCDP, with funding of €1.17 million for the National Traveller Partnership in 2015; notes and welcomes that funding of approximately €1.35 million will transfer from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to the Department of Justice and Equality as from 1 January 2016 as part of a new National Strategic Framework being put in place by the latter Department to support the work of the local Traveller Interagency Groups, TIGs, Traveller community development projects and national organisations and to ensure that Traveller interests are strongly represented in local economic and community planning by local authorities;

welcomes:— the consultation process led by the Department of Justice and Equality which is underway to develop a new National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy; notes that phase 1, identification of key themes for the new Strategy has been completed, that phase 2, identification and agreement of high-level objectives under each agreed theme, will commence shortly and that phase 3, identification of detailed actions to achieve each agreed objective, with associated timescales, key performance indicators, institutional responsibilities and monitoring arrangements, will commence in early 2016; and

— that the new National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy is due to be completed and published in the first quarter of 2016 and welcomes the Government’s commitment that it will contain clear commitments and timeframes to address the accommodation, health, education and other issues the Traveller community faces; and further notes that:

— the role of the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy Steering Group, which monitors delivery of the strategy, has been strengthened, including in relation to commissioning of independent evaluations of implementation;

— the question of whether revised institutional arrangements for delivery of services to Travellers are necessary to bring about greater coherence in and improve the effectiveness of statutory services for the Traveller community has been raised during the ongoing consultation process and will be considered in the drafting of the new National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy; and

— the question of formal recognition of Travellers as a group in Irish society with a unique culture, heritage and ethnic identity is being considered in the context of the development of the new National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy."

I thank Deputy Mac Lochlainn and Sinn Féin for tabling this motion. I join with Deputies in this House in expressing my condolences to the Connors, Gilbert and Lynch families who lost their lives in Carrickmines.

I have been, and have continued to be since my election to this House, an advocate for Traveller ethnicity. I have worked with people on all sides of this House to make Traveller ethnicity a recognised reality. However, my efforts in this regard have been somewhat frustrated because, I am told, I must take account of public opinion. I do not accept the premise that we should deal in the terms of popular opinion when advocating the rights of a minority. Outside of a referendum, I do not believe we should deal in focus group equality or that we should rely on polls in regard to how we should proceed on issues of equality. The fact that advocating for the rights of a minority might be unpopular is surely the reason we should collectively strive to ensure that equality is realised.

As alluded to earlier, since the foundation of this State we have experimented with what may be termed "sameness". Sameness is a lie. Since the foundation of this State people with mental health challenges have been incarcerated. Approximately 200,000 people with mental health issues were incarcerated in the 1950s. Young mothers who were unmarried were told that they were wrong and had to be placed in laundries. People who had troubled backgrounds and behavioural difficulties were also told that they were wrong and had to be sent to industrial schools. As stated so eloquently tonight by Deputy Mac Lochlainn, in 1963 Travellers were told that they were wrong and that they had to become settled people. Sameness is a lie while diversity is the truth. Diversity is the only truth that existed in the past. It is the only truth that can exist now and it is the only truth that can exist in the future. Members of this House, regardless of our political differences, should stand by truth. The truth is that the Traveller community in this State is a distinct ethnic group. They are a people and a part of this nation and they deserve recognition in that regard. This move does not require legislation or a constitutional amendment. It is just as well it does not require a constitutional amendment. One can only imagine the type of debate we would have in this country if that question were put to the people, considering that in this country one can pretty much say in public discourse, polite conversation or print media anything one wants about the Traveller community and get away with it.

There is no more reviled a community in our history, from the settled perspective, than the Traveller community. Is it any wonder that they feel isolated and disconnected? All they are asking for at this point in time is a new platform of interaction with their common citizens in this republic. Michael McDonagh, who is a long term advocate for Traveller rights, has spoken about how young Travellers do not know what role they play or what space they should start from. Surely a positive acknowledgement from this State of what we all know to be true would be the best move we could make. We need to acknowledge the distinct - not separate - culture, heritage, language and tradition of our fellow citizens who are Travellers. From there we can move to a whole new conversation about where we go in the future. We cannot have a commemoration of 1916 next year unless we fully subscribe to the idea of this republic guaranteeing equal rights and equal opportunities for all citizens, such that there is no repeat of a situation about which I heard recently, namely, the opening of two books of condolences in public buildings in this country, one of which was signed while the other was rejected. The fact that this measure would not be popular, would not do so well in a poll or might be rejected by a focus group is the very reason we have to support it. Let us reject focus group equality.

I am working hard to realise the day when a member of Government, with the support of everybody in this House, can recognise the truth of diversity, put to bed the lie of sameness and say to our Traveller community, which on one level will be an apology for the lives they have led and the discrimination they have had to endure, that from a settled perspective we, this State, this republic, recognises them as a people and wants to work with them to build a new relationship. When that day comes, it will be a proud day for the many people who have campaigned for it, including the Irish Traveller Movement, Pavee Point, the Irish Traveller Women's Forum and the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, members of which, cross-party and unanimously, have acknowledged that this has to happen. I believe that will be a proud day for this republic. We could then, collectively, celebrate a new dispensation and a new road to travel together in what would be termed a real republic.

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