Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I listened to the speech by the Minister of State, Deputy English. He said a number of things that are very pertinent to the debate. While he can correct me if I am wrong, he said there was no financial or legal impediment to recognising Traveller ethnicity. If there is no financial or legal impediment to granting ethnic status to Travellers, one wonders why we are not doing it.

The process is pretty simple and was outlined last night by the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin. The Taoiseach needs to come in here and make a statement to this Chamber. He needs to write a couple of letters to the various organisations within the EU stating that we are now recognising the Traveller community as an ethnic group. We then need to look at any legislative changes. The Minister of State, Deputy English, has already said there are no legal impediments to it, so we should just get on with it.

The Minister of State said he agreed with the spirit of the Sinn Féin motion but disagreed with one aspect of it, which is the creation of an all-Ireland forum. He may call me a cynic, but the creation of an all-Ireland forum would expose this State's attitude to the Traveller community because given that Travellers within the Six Counties already have their ethnicity recognised, it then exposes the hypocrisy of this State in not recognising that very same ethnicity. I believe that is the reason the Government is opposed to an all-Ireland forum.

I listened to Deputy Barry's speech and was shocked by some of what he said. If one needs any reason to understand why Travellers suffer from discrimination, one only has to look at some of Deputy Barry's statements. He brought into the debate on ethnicity the issue of anti-social behaviour and then went on to say that he was not talking about Travellers specifically but about people in general. As the motion is about recognising Traveller ethnicity, by even bringing in issues such as anti-social behaviour the Deputy is implying that is one of the reasons we should not grant recognition of ethnicity to the Traveller community.

Deputy Barry also said that people were coming to his office to express concerns about Travellers who may be getting accommodation in the locality. He said that they have genuine fears. I would like to know what they are. Plenty of members of the Traveller community come into my office. My constituency has three halting sites. We have a large Traveller community in Cork North Central and they form an integral part of the community. Some of them are living in conditions of squalor. What the families in the Spring Lane halting site on the north side of Cork city have to endure is beyond belief. The Minister of State should visit the site.

Returning to what Deputy Barry said about people expressing genuine concerns about Travellers getting accommodation next to them or within their estate, he failed to mention something which may not happen in his constituency but certainly happens in mine. People come to my office and express concerns about members of the settled community who may be getting a house near them. There is almost an impression that if a Traveller moves in next to one, one will see an increase in crime rates and anti-social behaviour but that is not the case. I know that from first-hand, as there are Travellers who live in my housing estate. They are some of the most decent people - salt of the earth. If one had a problem in the morning they would be the first to knock at one's door. That is the reality.

The problem we have in this Chamber is that there is no leadership. As with the issue of marriage equality, the public is so far ahead of those of us in this Chamber when it comes to Traveller ethnicity that we need to get our head out of our backside and get on with the job.

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