Dáil debates

Tuesday, 3 November 2015

Travellers' Rights: Motion [Private Members]

 

9:55 pm

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Gerry Adams should not be astonished at all. He should not encourage me to go into that area because I could depart into another lecture but I will not.

There are people within the Traveller community who want to settle and we need to encourage that. We then need to address the other issue of those who want to travel and have that culture recognised as part and parcel of their society. I do not see any reason we should not do that. Whatever we do on accommodation, we need to recognise that there is no sense whatever in putting anyone into substandard accommodation or in putting anyone into a situation in which one would not live. It is a golden rule that we, as public representatives, should always take on board. Would we live in these conditions ourselves? Some will say there are those in the settled community in similar situations. There are but there should not be. Some of us have spoken about it in this House for many years. In the good times, when the resources were available that could have easily dealt with these situations, nobody bothered. People stood idly by, wrung their hands, tore their hair out, beat their breasts and talked and thought about it but did nothing.

The fact of the matter is that it still remains. That will be the same in five years’ and in ten years’ time, unless we as a society, as well as our society and community leaders, recognise we have a role to play. We can evolve and influence that evolution. If we do not influence that evolution, things will remain as they are. What part of our society, what part of the population of this country, should we regard as being incapable of moving ahead and tasting the fruits and benefits of society as it progresses. If we were all to remain as we were in the 1940s and the 1950s, we would be a peculiar race of people now.

Unfortunately, the thinking in some quarters has not changed. Instead of it being a them-and-us situation, we have to get to the point where we all have a role to play. We need to play the role and not play off each other. We do not need to suggest that some of us have the answer and others are not aware of that. Often people say to me that I do not know what it really is like but I am not so sure about that. I have been dealing with this, as has everybody else in this House, for a very long time now. If I do not know what it is like out there at this stage, I should not be here.

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