Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Déanaim comhbhrón le muintir Connors, Lynch agus Gilbert faoin tragóid uafásach a tharla cúpla seachtain ó shin i ndeisceart Bhaile Átha Cliath. Is oth liom a rá go bhfuil caidreamh uafásach agus briste sa tír seo idir an pobal socraithe agus an Lucht Siúil. Dá bharr sin, níl daoine ag iarraidh díriú ar an gcaidreamh seo ar chor ar bith. B'fhearr linn, mar phobal, neamhaird a thabhairt ar an gcaidreamh. Tá nathanna diúltacha, claonta agus leatromacha sa chaint againn gach uile lá. Briseadh croíthe na ndaoine thar timpeall na tíre nuair a chuala siad faoin tubaiste uafásach a tharla cúpla seachtain ó shin. Cúpla lá ina dhiaidh sin, áfach, chonaiceamar drochiompar gránna de chuid den phobal socraithe nuair a rinneadh iarracht bac a chur ar na muintireacha sin socrú síos in aice leo. Tá só dochreidte go bhfuil a leithéid fós ag tarlúint sa tír.

Across Irish society and all the different performance indicators in human life, the people from the Traveller community suffer greatly. Regardless of whether it is life expectancy, health outcomes, education outcomes or suicide rates, Travellers compare disastrously with the settled community. If we look at the unemployment rates among the Traveller community, we can see that it stands at 80%. Travellers have suffered more than the settled community as the labour market has tightened massively over the past number of years due to the recession.

If these factors were associated with any group in Irish society, there would be absolute outrage and it would not take the deaths of unfortunate individuals for this issue to become part of the debate. There would be outrage on a regular basis but the truth of the matter is that because it is happening to people from the Traveller community, it is, by and large, ignored in the political discourse. In a liberal democracy, every individual should be judged on the basis on their individual character. Unfortunately, this is not happening. Once a Traveller speaks, signs his or her name, applies for a job or tries to book an event, the shutters come down across the country.

The fact is that those shutters come down at Government level as well. When the recession hit, Travellers experienced the biggest chop. When it comes to cuts, Travellers are positively discriminated against. We have seen €30 million taken away from Traveller-orientated programmes over the past number of years. To put that in perspective, that is a cut of 88%. I cannot think of any other section of Government expenditure that has been hammered so much.

We have also seen Ministers in the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government actively try to stop Traveller families from gaining accommodation by making representations to local authorities. Right across the country, we see councillors in establishment parties actively using their time against the interests of Travellers. A councillor in Donegal stated that Travellers should live in isolation. A Fine Gael election candidate in the south of Dublin said that giving land in an affluent area to Travellers was a waste of valuable resources. We also see how the media hypes up and sensationalises any story that occurs in this community.

Caithfidh an Rialtas beart a dhéanamh de réir a bhriathar agus tá deis ag an Rialtas an rud ceart a dhéanamh anois. Ní ann ach rud beag ach iarraim ar an Aire Stáit lig leis an rún seo rith.

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