Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will try to leave the Minister plenty of time to reply. I thank him and his Department for their vital work and the support they have provided to rural and urban communities in recent months. As we watched the pandemic sweep across the world, it was telling that Ireland had something unique in its toolkit: the innate sense of community knitted within the fabric of our land. It has stood us well. The challenge of staying together while forced to be apart was and continues to be met with defiance, determination and creativity. It falls on the Department the Minister was instrumental in creating to ensure that adequate supports are in place for the community and voluntary sector and for rural Ireland to trade through these dark times and continue to support communities as it is tasked.

As we look with horror across the miles at what is unfolding following the murder of George Floyd and the disgraceful response of the Trump Administration, it is important to support the Black Lives Matter movement and to challenge racism and discrimination at every turn. It is important for the US to rally and become, as P.J. Harvey calls it, a "community of hope" and not be dragged down by fear, hatred or bigotry. It is equally important to note that although we are fortunate not to have such deep-rooted division in Irish society and no far right civil or political movements, we cannot and must not take for granted the notion that as a nation we are free of discrimination towards minorities. Ireland has a job of work to do here.

The Irish Network Against Racism reported a number of weeks ago that reported incidents of racism in Ireland had more than doubled in the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same period last year. Much of this increase can be accounted for by online racist abuse or hate speech directed towards certain minorities due to the coronavirus. It is a worrying trend.

In December of last year, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination made some useful recommendations to the Irish State as to future actions that needed to be taken to tackle discrimination against minorities. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is tasked with taking these recommendations back here to ensure that all who have a role in fostering greater inclusion and combating discrimination do so in a co-ordinated way. The UN committee expressed its concern about the "increasing incidence of racist hate speech against Travellers, Roma, refugees, asylum seekers and migrants" and echoed the commission’s recommendation for the State to develop a comprehensive regulatory framework to combat hate speech online, including measures to encourage reporting of racist hate crime. Commission member, Salome Mbugua, said:

The State must step up and show leadership across its political and public institutions to proactively combat racial discrimination and tackle issues which can fuel its growth. We need as a society to ensure that in our communities and country racism has no safe harbour, no resting place.

It should be of deep concern to us in this House that racism and hate speech have a safe harbour when it comes to discrimination towards the Traveller community. At times, it seems there is a tolerance and an acceptance of discriminatory language directed at Travellers both politically and socially. It is reflected too in the continuing deterioration of health, educational attainment and employment opportunities of Travellers. Women of African descent were highlighted as experiencing a high level of discrimination in Ireland, which is very worrying. I know from talking to my African, Traveller and Muslim friends that while they feel at home here, many have experienced some level of verbal abuse, been refused entry to premises or have felt threatened or intimidated in recent times.

The Minister's Department has a key role in this regard. Direct and sustained funding of community development groups working with minorities, refugees, asylum seekers and the Traveller community has a direct correlation with well-being outcomes for these vulnerable groups. Traveller development and advocacy groups, in particular, had their funding disproportionately cut during the last downturn. The impact of such cuts is reflected in health and well-being outcomes but also, importantly, in advocacy and campaigning ability, that transformative and emergent work which is hard to quantify.

I welcome the fact the Government has committed to extra funding for community development work for groups whose income streams dropped due to Covid. These groups will be vital to chartering an alternative vision for a post-Covid Ireland and the Minister's support is most welcome. What input has the Department of Rural and Community Development had in the implementation of the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021, led by the Department of Justice and Equality? Is the Minister aware of a review of this strategy and planning for a new plan period and a collaborative process?

In the midst of the general election, an important document was lost in the mix, namely, "Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities: A Five-Year Strategy to Support the Community and Voluntary Sector in Ireland 2019-2024", the Government’s roadmap for community development which was launched in February. It is our view that this important work needs to be updated to fit a post-Covid framework and that a collaborative process to take on board the views of the sector in this new reality needs to happen. Can the Department of Rural and Community Development initiate this work as a matter of urgency? Does the Minister think it is feasible that his Department might lead and support stand-alone county integration and inclusion strategies, supported by the LCDC network? It would seem like a natural fit for such community-based work.

I believe that such strategies are vital to ensure that actions towards inclusion and integration happen at a local, community level. County Carlow produced a wonderful integration strategy a number of months ago and I was also deeply involved in the process to develop County Kilkenny’s first integration strategy. I also had the privilege to attend a launch a number of months ago at which the Minister's colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy John Paul Phelan, spoke well of the need for support for community-led integration work. Indeed, Carlow can be held in high regard for the collaborative work with the Rohingya community there, work that I feel could act as a template for inclusion and integration planning.

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