Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My concern is that the situation is getting worse year on year. For example, the worst ever underspend since the Traveller accommodation programmes were introduced was in 2017 and now we discover that last year the situation was the same. It is the same local authorities. This is not about one or two sites, because the Minister of State is absolutely right that there can be two sides to any story, but there is clearly a structural problem here when we have 24 local authorities either not spending or significantly underspending a budget. That is a structural problem in the system. I do not accept it is a positive that this money is spent elsewhere. Traveller homelessness is higher than in any other section of the population. We are three years and a few months on from the tragic events in Carrickmines where families were living in wholly inappropriate and dangerous conditions. This budget is not just for new Traveller accommodation, it should also be for upgrades, improvements and fire safety works. The fact that so many local authorities are not spending or are underspending is a problem. I am waiting to hear something different that the Government will do this year to ensure the money is spent. I appreciate the primary problem here is at a local government level but the Department has to do more to ensure 2019 does not have the same level of underspend as the last two years.

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