Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

There is not enough time to talk about the range of issues that fall within the equality brief and the range of challenges. I am incredibly excited to hold this brief. It is an area I am and have been very passionate about throughout all of my life, including prior to my involvement in politics. There is a very detailed section in the programme for Government on equality and all of these areas. The Deputy specifically mentioned Traveller and Roma integration. There are big challenges for both communities in the context of Covid and supports in that regard, particularly barriers around language with the Roma community and in regard to education and employment, with an 80% unemployment rate in the Traveller community. I look forward to being able to bring forward detailed strategies to address these issues in the new Traveller and Roma integration strategy.

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