Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Wexford has the fifth highest Traveller population in the country. That population increased by 58.9% between 2003 and 2013 but there are no plans for any transit sites to 2018.

According to the plan, there are 128 Traveller households on the Wexford housing list but the lack of funding for new standard local authority accommodation will make it very unlikely that these houses will be delivered in the foreseeable future. There was supposed to be a review and I am wondering whether there is any update in respect of it.

I will admit, having listened to the Traveller representatives who came before the committee, that all of us in this House have been negligent in fighting for better conditions for Travellers. I wonder if the Government has an appetite for dealing with the issue of Traveller ethnicity because it would mean so much to them.

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