Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Monday's report from the Office of the Ombudsman for Children on conditions at a Traveller halting site in Cork city found that 66 children at the site were forced to live in conditions that were filthy, overcrowded, damp and rat-infested. The report, undertaken on foot of a complaint submitted by the Cork Traveller Women's Network and the Cork Traveller Visibility Group as a last resort after years of campaigning, concluded that Cork City Council had failed to comply with the minimum requirements of the law, had acted in a discriminatory fashion and had violated the human rights of the children living on the site. The social affairs correspondent of The Irish Times, Kitty Holland, this morning described the report as "the strongest report on children's human rights abuses in Ireland" she had read in two decades in journalism.

Cork City Council is the landlord of the site and has the power to resolve these problems. The Taoiseach's party is part of the ruling group on the council. The message that urgent action needs to be taken must be driven home to the council officials and every elected member. To that end, I ask the Taoiseach to make a statement here on the matter and consider making a visit to the site in question in the weeks ahead.

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