Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is nothing to apologise for in the context of the question to which Deputy Burton referred, which was transferred from my Department to the Department of Justice and Equality. The Deputy referred the matter to the Ceann Comhairle. There is a very simple reason for transferring the questions and we wrote back to the Ceann Comhairle yesterday to explain it. I believe my Department also gave the Deputy some further information on the matter. The simple reason is that the Department of Justice and Equality is the lead Department in overall terms on Traveller culture, identity and heritage, with the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, having responsibility for this area. While the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht participates in the national Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy steering group, it is only one of a number of Departments delivering on the commitments included under the heading of Traveller culture, identity and heritage which is supported and valued within Irish society. As I said, the Department of Justice and Equality has the lead role for the overall strategy. In his reply to Deputy Burton on that occasion, the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, noted that my Department is responsible for specific allocations of funding in certain areas to which Deputy Burton alluded. The Department has provided details of funding for specific projects in arts and heritage for the Traveller community in response to previous parliamentary questions.

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