Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know the Minister's heart is in the right place but it is all reports, words and more words. The system always creates another report, another examination, another consultation before we take action. In Galway city, it is game, set and match to the status quo, which is to do nothing. The Part VIII developments are not going through. We can have all the reports we want but nothing is happening. The Minister knows that time flies in the job he is in. He has only one short window of opportunity to get something done but he just gets another report and there is no action.

There are 15 families living on the Carrowbrowne temporary halting site on the Headford Road in Galway. The 30 adults and 36 children have been living on the site since 2009, when three-year planning, temporary, was given. The 15 families have stated a need for Traveller-specific, culturally appropriate accommodation but Galway City Council has not been able to meet this need and it applied for an extension of the planning permission on this site in 2012. In December 2013, An Bord Pleanála gave the council one year but it ran out in December 2014. The council did not even try. In the ten years in which these people have been living on the site, which was given as an expedient measure in a crisis, the council has not tried to get proper, long-term, suitable, high-quality accommodation.

The accommodation issues include rats, mice and fly infestation. This cannot be blamed on the Travellers but must be blamed on the fact that the site is a disused dump. Rats have been found in belongings and in sinks, showers, food presses and other areas. Flies are constant for the same reason. It is beside a recycling facility and windows and doors cannot be opened, while there are also sewage and sanitation issues. Pipes for sinks, showers, toilets and washing machines are constantly blocked up and water and sewage comes up over the ground and through the bays. The electricity is erratic and it goes off at times, leaving families without power. There are structural hazards and the sheds that have been provided are a health hazard as they are falling apart, while there are holes and cracks in the ceilings and walls. Windows are broken, as are the locks on the doors, which are steel doors like in a prison. It is more a case for Ireland Aid than what should be available in a First World country and it is replicated in various places.

We need action now and one simple thing needs to be done. We need some way of getting the planning applications through to provide the alternative accommodation. People have a human right to live in decent conditions.

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