Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Lahart. First, I welcome the chairperson of the committee, Senator Flynn, to the House. She is an activist, a fighter for human rights and a role model not just for the Traveller community but for all society. I welcome the visitors in the Visitors Gallery. Senator Flynn spoke very eloquently. I was watching the proceedings in my office and watched and heard the round of applause. It was very well deserved. She has produced a report that gets through to people like me, who are not of her community and who are privileged in our society. From my reading of the report so far, and I will get through all of it, that is a fundamental success of the report. I also commend the committee. I understand it is a very hard-working committee. Under Senator Flynn's guidance the committee conducted extensive research, visited sites around the country and engaged with stakeholders in the production of the report.

From my reading of the report, I can see that Travellers have been moved to the edges of our society. They have been physically separated and socially excluded. They have been excluded from policy and decision making on issues that affect them. They have been subject to persistent disadvantage and segregation. The road to formal recognition was long, and the official recognition as an indigenous ethnic minority in 2017 was long overdue. The progress to full inclusion and acceptance of Traveller identity and culture in this country is slow. As Senator Flynn said, there have been numerous reports and studies produced which have highlighted the difficulties and challenges faced by the Traveller community. Unfortunately, it is clear that these have not succeeded in improving conditions in Travellers' lives. I believe this report, by making that point, will have an effect because Senator Flynn has captured that fundamental failure in how we have treated Travellers in this society since the foundation of the State.

I read the executive summary. I do not have time to go into it now, but it is incredibly compelling. I encourage everybody to read it. It is stark. I could go on about the shorter life expectancy of Travellers, the suicide rates, the low educational attainment and the underspend of local authorities, at €72 million, in the last decade. This points to a fundamental failure of our society to help the Traveller community to integrate, succeed and flourish. As I do not have any more time, I will conclude.

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