Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Fáiltím roimh an mBille seo agus an obair chrua atá déanta ag an iarSheanadóir Kelleher agus ag mo chomhghleacaí, an Teachta Pringle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an mbeirt acu. Is Bille iontach é, i ndáiríre, ar a lán leibhéal. Tá sé chomh gearr, dírithe agus dearfach sin. Beidh deis againn go léir foghlaim as an rud atá i gcroílár an Bhille seo. Is iontach an rud freisin nach bhfuil an tAire nó an Rialtas ag cur in aghaidh an Bhille. Is é an dúshlán atá againn anois ná é a chur i gcrích chomh sciobtha agus is féidir.

I welcome this Bill. I thank my colleague, Deputy Pringle, and the former Senator Kelleher for her hard work in pushing this through the Seanad. It has arisen organically from work on the ground and is a Bill we can only praise. It is so short. There are two paragraphs in it. I have never seen a more focused or shorter Bill in my life. Maybe I have not lived long enough. It is:

An Act to provide for recognised schools to promote a knowledge and understanding of the culture and history of the Traveller community

[...]

by the insertion of “including a knowledge and understanding of the culture and history of the Traveller community...” [and so on] after “other cultural matters,”.

It comes following the recognition in March 2017 of Traveller ethnicity. That was a wonderful night. I remember it well. The Public Gallery in the Dáil was full and it was a moment in time when we finally did the right thing following the tremendous work of Traveller organisations. They led us by the nose and we followed and did the right thing. It is interesting that when we recognised Traveller ethnicity in 2017, it followed on from an awful lot of reports. Since then there have been other reports, which are welcome. If I have a minute, I might come back to them.

It is worth noting, in particular, that the Bill follows the publication of two reports on the recognition of Traveller ethnicity by the justice and equality committee in 2014 and 2017. Both recommended the recognition by the State of Travellers as an ethnic minority.

There were other reports that led to that historic evening. I refer to one, from 1963, as an example of how far we have moved. At the time it was written, the report by the Commission on Itinerancy was considered forward-thinking. Its terms of reference, when we read them now, were staggering. It was inbuilt in its work to look on Travellers as a problem. The terms of reference were to "enquire into the problem arising from the presence in the country of itinerants in considerable number", "examine the economic, educational, health and social problems inherent in their way of life", and consider how to "promote their absorption into the general community". There was no recognition of Travellers' ethnicity or how distinctly different they were from the settled community. The members of the commission were appointed by a former judge. There was no representative of the Traveller community and no representative from the then Department of Social Welfare or any charitable organisation. We have moved very far since then, which is to be praised.

The Minister mentioned many positives in her speech. She is going to change the strategy to look more at outcomes, which is welcome. The change in admissions policy is welcome. There are many other positive points. I echo what my colleague, Deputy Joan Collins, said regarding the audit. I would love to read that report. There have also been many failures on our part and I include myself, during my time as a councillor, in that. In Galway, we have utterly failed to live up to our legal obligations to provide accommodation for Travellers.

However, tonight is not a night to go into that. Instead, it is a night to zone in on what we can learn from the Traveller community. In terms of music alone, we have Mary Doran, The Fureys, John Reilly and Pecker Dunne, to whom we must be thankful for so many tunes. The John Reilly song, "The Well Below the Valley" would have vanished if Christy Moore had not recorded it. We are indebted to the Traveller community for many things. I only have time to mention music but it is true on many other levels. I had the privilege of teaching in a training centre for Travellers when I was a student. I can only say that I learned more from them, although I hope they took something from me as well, as a teacher who was grateful to teach communication skills. We can learn as a society by being inclusive and having an open mind in respect of all cultures.

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