Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

First, I thank and commend Senator Flynn, in her capacity as chairperson of the Joint Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community, all the members of the committee and the wider participants on creating this vital report that so starkly presents not only the inequalities but also the structural violence faced by Irish Travellers. I also acknowledge the ferocity in the call in the report to act on the 84 recommendations. The Social Democrats will absolutely put our name to it.

I am conscious that I will not be able to talk about all the elements of the report in five minutes. As somebody who is passionate about education, I am particularly focused on that aspect. However, I will briefly mention some of the statistics relating to health, mental health, suicide rates and housing inequalities that I believe encapsulate the structural violence that is faced every day by members of the Traveller community. Life expectancy in the Traveller community is 15.1 years shorter for men and 11.5 years shorter for women than it is among the wider public. The infant mortality rate for Traveller children is 3.6 times the rate for the general population. Irish Traveller mothers are by far the most over-represented group who suffer perinatal deaths. Despite this, there is little specific mention of this in the national maternity strategy and no mention of it in the national maternity strategy implementation plan.

Some 90% of Travellers agreed that mental health problems were common in their community, and suicide is the cause of 11% of Traveller deaths, which is six times higher than is the case in the general population. The report of the Ombudsman for Children, "No End in Site", highlighted the deplorable living conditions in one halting site, where there were approximately 140 people using toilets and washing facilities designed for 40 people, leading to stress, tension and, inevitably at times, conflict. Today, it is even more disheartening, but not surprising, that a statement issued by the Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance states that there has been no major improvement in the living conditions of Travellers over the past three years. The pandemic has encapsulated and placed a spotlight on many worrying inequalities, and in the intersectionality of that we see the oppression once more of the Traveller community. It is very clear that this comes down to a form of structural violence, a system if not designed for but certainly apathetic to the plight of people in the Traveller community, and which for generations forced oppression on that community.

I often speak in this Chamber about participation in, and access to, education.

There are those who will never know how easy their journey through the formal education system has been and there are those who face so many barriers to participation that they are essentially pushed out. Those who are pushed out are made to believe they are the problem and not that the system has failed them. I often speak about the postcode lottery and how stark the differences are between wealthy areas and low-income areas. That pales in comparison to the attrition rates for Travellers in education due to a system designed to oppress. The 2016 census, the most recent census we have, showed that 13% of Travellers attained higher secondary level or more compared to more than 70% in the more general population. A total of 17.7% of Traveller children have no education in comparison to 1.4% of the general population.

In 2016 only 167 Irish Travellers had the opportunity to avail of a third level qualification. As someone who has availed of access programmes I know in a small way what it is like to be considered a target group because of presupposed disadvantage. I acknowledge how exceptional these 167 students are and the others who have gone through the journey since 2016. They should absolutely not be the exception to the rule as is the case. Everyone should have the chance to succeed and progress in our education system. We cannot be satisfied with a few succeeding against the odds. We have to change the very system itself.

Given these facts, it always riles me when there is talk about the education system being a meritocracy. As it stands, it has the main aim of reproducing and reinforcing existing inequalities. The reality of these statistics demonstrates a culture in the State of low expectations for Traveller students. Pavee Point has stated that funding for Traveller education supports were cut by 86.6% between 2008 and 2013, compared to a 4.3% cut in overall Government spending. Much of this reduction was made in the name of mainstreaming without carefully monitoring the situation to ensure the same educational outcomes and interventions, with additional support if and when needed.

There is a consistent idea that if we treat everyone the same despite their differences, this somehow represents true equality. This is absolutely false. It sets many people up to fail. There is no inevitability that Traveller life, health, educational and employment outcomes should be so starkly contrasted to those in the wider population. We can and must act to change this. As Senator Flynn stated in the foreword of the report, recognising differences while being treated equally is what is being asked. The 84 recommendations of the report need to be implemented. Otherwise it will become inevitable by design and by will that the continued repression and structural violence faced by the Traveller community will continue. The Social Democrats absolutely put our name to the 84 recommendations in the report.

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