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

I do not know if the Minister of State has the information on whether the tender has been signed for the permanent site, which is proposed to be open in July 2017. She can come back to me on that to provide the information on whether that tender has been signed and if we are still on target to meet that date. Could the Minister of State outline some of the remedial works which have been carried out or which are proposed to be carried out on the temporary site on which the families are currently living? It is my understanding that the site is surrounded by a number of large pylons and is rat infested. The conditions are less than adequate, to say the very least. While it is a temporary site, we are now asking the families to spend a minimum of another seven months on that particular site. If there are remedial works that need to be carried out, I ask the Minister of State to contact the local authority to make sure that they are done.

Following the tragedy, issues have been raised about many other sites around the country. In my own constituency of Cork North-Central, there is Spring Lane. I do not know if the Minister of State has ever visited Spring Lane, but it is a tragedy waiting to happen.

The living conditions on that site are the worst I have ever seen in all my years in politics. I saw raw sewage and exposed electrical wires among other things, but very little remedial work has been carried out.

Will the Minister of State outline the initiatives being taken to improve other halting sites? Funding has been allocated but, much to my disgust and that of representatives of the Traveller community, local authorities have handed it back to central government. The money has not been used while members of the Traveller community continue to live in very poor and deplorable conditions.

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