Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ellis for his comments. I was very clear in my answer in that the responsibility for Traveller accommodation lies solely with the local authority. That is why, when the Deputy raised this issue today, I immediately got on to the local authority. It is now aware that this great concern has been raised in this Parliament and I will follow up with it.

I want to be very clear in terms of the work we have done in the past two years. For the first time in decades, each year for the past two years the Department has spent the budget. Second, we have increased funding for very vulnerable groups, including our Traveller community. We had 250 inspections nationwide throughout Covid to try to put remedial solutions and funding in place to keep the Traveller community, many of whom are very vulnerable, safe from the effects of Covid-19.

Issues such as the Carrickmines incident weigh very heavily on my shoulders in terms of this responsibility. That is why we need to work together to bring about solutions in cases like this. Especially when there are communities on sites that are unauthorised, it can be difficult to get solutions. We have to work together to do it and the will is there.

Issues such as trying to increase the funding for Traveller-specific bays has been granted and it is there now. The Traveller caravan loan scheme is approved. It is in place and being rolled out. Schemes such as these are so important in giving the Traveller community an alternative.

All I can say is that I will get back to the local authority. As I said, we want solutions. It is very easy to identify the issues, but we need concrete solutions. The Deputy spoke about a pregnant lady and people suffering from cancer. Those are the most vulnerable people in the community and they absolutely need to be front and centre in terms of supporting them. I assure the Deputy we will raise this again with the local authority.

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