Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In many ways it is unfortunate that Members are discussing something that potentially could have been a positive and constructive proposal but find themselves obliged to concentrate on all the massive glaring omissions and the categories of citizens who deserve legislative protection in this regard and who certainly are not getting it. I am glad Members have highlighted the issue of hate crime, which I appreciate, but it could have been so much better. I had the advantage this morning of attending a highly constructive meeting on the harm that will be done regarding the proposed legislation on criminalising the purchase of sex. I met some Traveller women at that meeting who told me I would be discussing this hate crime Bill in the Dáil tonight. I replied I did not think so and had not seen such a measure on the schedule because I had not looked at the fine print. However, they were utterly shocked at the concept of their exclusion from this legislation. It probably is the most identifiable group in Irish society that needs protection from such a provision and their omission is glaring. I note that in its press release, Fianna Fáil pointed to the legislation that existed in Scotland, Northern Ireland and England and Wales and how supposedly this legislation would bring us in line with that. However, those jurisdictions have something we lack, namely, the recognition of Traveller ethnicity and they recognise Travellers as a distinct ethnic group.

This Bill does not give any protection to Travellers and on that basis alone, is severely worrying. Let us face it, they probably are targeted more than anybody else. In fairness, Sinn Féin moved a Private Members' motion that called on the Taoiseach to recognise Traveller ethnicity, which would have committed the Dáil to implementing the recommendations of the April 2014 report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality on the recognition of Traveller ethnicity before the end of the last Dáil term. That proposal was supported by Fianna Fáil at the time and I do not know why Fianna Fáil did not re-table it now because were it to do so, it would be passed. That would be something concrete that could really deal with an issue in this regard. If Members wish to deal with equality, let us put that centre stage because to me, tabling so-called equality legislation that explicitly excludes one of the most discriminated against and vulnerable sections of the community is simply bizarre. It has the net effect of making a discriminated against minority feel even more discriminated against than they were before Members mentioned this proposal, which I think is ludicrous.

It is appropriate to mention the statistics because there clearly are people present who do not get it. Travellers on average die 15 years younger than the general population and infant mortality is three times that of the general population. The female and male death rates are, respectively, three and four times those of the general population. Fewer than 1% of Travellers progress to third level education. I refer to the details of four and five-year-old children being put up on the PULSE system - babies in some instances - because of where they came from. The Travelling community is discriminated against at every turn and is particularly vulnerable to attack. It is an absolute everyday feature of Traveller life and a Maynooth study from 2010 even reported that 60% of Irish people would not welcome a Traveller as a member of the family.

Deputy Bríd Smith mentioned the activity of a number of councillors who have played a role in stirring up racism but I put it that the Deputy sitting opposite overtly played a role in stirring up racism towards the Travelling community in opposing Traveller accommodation in her constituency as a waste of valuable resources. This type of hate-based propaganda put out by individuals to boost their individual profile for electoral purposes or whatever is absolutely abhorrent. When Members talk about hate crime, let us start in here as well. Research from Pavee Point shows that 61% of Travellers have experienced discrimination in shops, pubs and restaurants, 62% in schools and 50% in public settings. Members must take account of this and include it as part of really dealing with hate. I believe recognising Traveller ethnicity probably would be a more practical way of doing it than this Bill.

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