Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to express my sympathies to the families of those who died in Carrickmines. I hope that they get every support they need in the aftermath.

I would like to focus specifically on the housing aspect of this motion. Deputy Pearse Doherty said earlier that local authorities have failed in the provision of Traveller accommodation. That is not true.

There has been a failure on occasion and in some cases it has been on the part of some councillors or councils, but it is wrong not to acknowledge that much progress has been made. Considerable support for the provision of Traveller accommodation has been shown by councillors in many councils, sometimes in the face of local pressure.

The other side of the equation is that the issue can be complex. When I was first elected as a councillor to South Dublin County Council, one of my earliest decisions involved a project that included social housing and some group houses for Travellers. There was fierce pressure locally against the project, including, in particular, against the group houses for Travellers, but some of the opposition came from Travellers located next to where the group houses were to be situated. That element was eventually removed. To this day, that is the one decision in which I was involved in the council that I regret. Deputy SEán Crowe will vouch for this, but we have since supported the Traveller accommodation programme. We have supported all of the new Traveller sites proposed. If there was the slightest bit of pressure, councillors stood firm together and, in the main, did not break ranks. I remember one case in which a person who was a candidate and subsequently not elected as a councillor went on a solo run, but councillors stood firm and the provision of a temporary Traveller site went ahead. We did this in the face of local pressure. When one shows leadership to the local community and explains what one is doing, its members come on board. In the South Dublin County Council area, particularly where I live in the Balgaddy area of Lucan and north Clondalkin, there was an unbelievable number of unauthorised sites when I was first elected as a councillor. They are no longer there. Many new permanent Traveller accommodation projects have been developed. At the time, when the needs of Travellers were assessed, most of them wanted to be accommodated in council houses. That was the greatest demand. This is very much borne out by the Department's information. Many Travellers were accommodated in social houses and I represent many of them. I know them and meet them.

There is an error in a figure included in the motion and there was an error in a figure given by Deputy Pearse Doherty. He said the capital budget was €70 million in 2000. The Department has advised me that it was just over €15 million. These things matter. That is a huge discrepancy in the figure Sinn Féin has included in its motion. We are all in favour of maintaining local democracy and when it comes to an issue such as this, it is bad for local democracy when we propose to take away power from councillors. These decisions should be made locally and many councillors will step up to the plate. We are all involved in political parties and can make sure of this. We should not have a kneejerk reaction on this issue because of the terrible tragedy that happened at Carrickmines or because of some bad cases. We should stand up to those who hand out leaflets opposing the provision of Traveller accommodation and show them up for what they are. I have seen instances where such persons have suffered electorally because of the bad publicity generated in handing out such material. It is not as simple a matter as described.

On Traveller education, people involved in the media have highlighted the fact that there have been cuts. The Traveller education strategy which was drawn up in consultation with Traveller development groups proposed to move Traveller education services to the mainstream; it was to be done on a case by case basis according to need. There is much support for Travellers within the education system. Recently I met a young Traveller woman who was in her third year in Trinity College Dublin studying occupational therapy. She attended an event for Travellers in north Dublin and wanted to tell other Travellers that there were supports in place. It is not all negative; there are many positives and she wanted to get that message out. The debate has been so skewed towards the negative and unbalanced that it undermines the cause of Travellers. It promotes the idea that there is no support for Travellers when, in fact, there is. Many support the provision of Traveller supports and accommodation.

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