Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I hope the Minister is not suggesting there will be a sudden rush in the last quarter to produce Traveller-specific accommodation plans. If so, she is obviously oblivious to the fact that this has been going on for years. It was going on during the boom, when councils had a lot more money than they have now. In fact, Travellers from the Blanchardstown Traveller groups staged a demonstration several years ago outside the offices of Fingal County Council.

Let me give the Minister a few startling facts. Some 29% of the funds allocated to local authorities have been drawn down. There is no point in talking about increasing them if they are not even using what they are getting. Five thousand five hundred and eighty-four Travellers are in unsafe and overcrowded accommodation. Five children died last year in one incident in Foxrock. Normally when people die in Foxrock, we hear a hell of a lot more about it.

Dublin City Council has drawn down only 17% of its allocation. It has no plans in its books to build any accommodation in 2017. I have checked this with Dublin city councillors. Galway has the highest number of Travellers seeking accommodation but the council has drawn down only 3.25% of its allocation. Hats off to Clare and Kildare, which spent 0% of their allocations. This is a problem that they have no interest in acting upon. It is a really systemic problem.

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