Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. The problem is that it is clear from the research and from talking to Travellers that they do not experience a policing model that is focused on human rights. The report found that half of those surveyed had been present in a home that gardaí entered without permission. They found that 64% of Travellers in Garda custody in the past five years said they did not feel safe while in custody. When they were asked about the last time they were stopped by a garda, 59% of them said they believed they were stopped because they were a Traveller. Of those who believed they were racially profiled, 53% said the garda who stopped them had a reputation for stopping Travellers and 23% said the gardaí who stopped them had said something about their Traveller identity or Travellers generally that explained why they felt they were being stopped because of being a Traveller. The findings give a sense of Travellers' lived experience of State racism. It requires a change of approach because the current one is clearly not focused on human rights.

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