Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Many matters have moved on. Having heard from the Traveller cultural awareness trainees to whom I refer, it seems that the community has gone backwards a great deal over the intervening 24 years. They are concerned about both culture and accommodation. Even when I was a councillor in 2004, over ten years ago, moneys allocated for Traveller accommodation were not used. That is why the 2019 report was commissioned. I am very interested to see that Traveller accommodation report because it will be crucial in progressing Travellers' rights. I do not think things have progressed in the Traveller community in the past 24 years. There is great concern regarding problems with drug use and in the context of accommodation, culture and the survival of the Traveller community. I hope the committee will be able to feed into and support legislation on this.

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