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

I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, as he cannot attend. Gabhaim buíochas leis an gcomhchoiste as an tuarascáil thábhachtach. I welcome the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, on the important report on key issues affecting the Traveller community. I thank the committee members and its Chair, Senator Eileen Flynn, for their comprehensive report, which raises many key issues and also makes several important recommendations that will involve work across several Departments. The Minister had good engagement with the committee in November and is aware that it consulted Traveller and Roma groups widely, in addition to Departments and other interested stakeholders.

I am aware that many committee members have been engaged in work to support the Traveller and Roma communities over many years. We all agree that Travellers and Roma have long suffered from negative stereotypes and discrimination. The Government is committed to ensuring full equality of opportunity for Travellers and Roma and removing barriers to their full and equal participation in Irish life.

As Members will be aware, the national Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy, NTRIS, provides a framework for action on Traveller and Roma issues.It represents a whole-of-government approach and brings Departments and agencies together with representatives of Traveller and Roma communities to focus on key issues in a structured way. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, chairs the NTRIS steering committee, whose next meeting is scheduled for the end of March. The programme for Government commits to a review of the strategy and the Minister is committed to working with stakeholders to review what has been achieved and develop new approaches, as necessary, with a particular focus on implementation and measurement. The objectives of all our equality strategies remain largely relevant. The key challenge is to ensure better delivery.

The issue of intersectionality also needs to be addressed more coherently. We know, for instance, that the issues facing Traveller women and girls are different from those facing Traveller men and boys. In this context, we need to see how the successor strategy to the national strategy for women and girls can work in tandem with NTRlS's successor strategy to focus on particular issues for Traveller women and girls. The strategy committee's role will be pivotal in developing the consultation process and the content for the successor strategy. The successor strategy will not represent change for the sake of change. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, will listen carefully to stakeholders to ascertain what they advise. The advice provided by Traveller and Roma organisations will directly shape the scope and focus of the next strategy. The recommendations contained in the report of the special Oireachtas committee will also inform the next iteration of NTRIS. The support of all Departments will be crucial in ensuring the successor strategy will have a more outcomes-focused approach.

I reiterate the Government's commitment to supporting action to ensure that Travellers and Roma can participate equally and fully in Irish society. While there have been some improvements, more remains to be done. Again, on behalf of the Minister, I thank the committee for its report.

The Chair will know that both of us have worked with the Traveller community in our constituencies for many years. Based on my having read the summary recommendations of the report, I commend the committee's Chairman, Senator Flynn, and its members on what is a really comprehensive report with a targeted and focused set of actions to be implemented. In a speech I made following the issuing of the No End in Site report of the Ombudsman for Children's Office, I said that among Traveller families I know in my community and my Traveller friends, it is accepted that little, if anything, will ever change. Now and then, there is a breakthrough when we celebrate someone going to third level education but these events are rare. In that regard, it is critical that we address the findings of the report at a whole-of-government level and right across the Houses of the Oireachtas and work with all partner agencies and the Traveller and Roma communities to achieve the transformation. I feel very strongly about it.

We see persistent discrimination, including at political level when there is intervention in housing allocations. We see Traveller families, particularly young Travellers, hiding themselves from view rather than celebrating their heritage and culture. As Minister of State with responsibility for heritage, I worked with the Heritage Council to develop the post of an intercultural heritage officer whose job would be to work with the Traveller and Roma communities. We saw some really positive outcomes of that during Heritage Week last year. I really feel that part of the process will involve focusing on celebrating Traveller culture, heritage and music. In many ways, the Traveller community saved a lot of Irish traditional music through the oral tradition and language and its really deep traditions. From this perspective, we need to tackle collectively the discrimination that takes place at every level in society. The outcomes for young Travellers have not changed all that much in 20 years in this country. We see this in housing, educational attainment and mental health.

Report after report has recommended the way forward in the context of how we try to address this matter. I feel that very little is changing in a real sense. The Government is deeply committed to trying to resolve these issues. People across this House are deeply committed to trying to resolve it with the Traveller community.

I welcome the report. I thank Senator Flynn and the members of the committee for the work that they put into it. I hope that we can constructively work together to try to address the discrimination and the life outcomes for the Traveller and Roma communities in Ireland.

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