Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister of State is aware that two very important reports on the issue of Travellers and Traveller accommodation were published in the past four weeks. The first report was commissioned by the Housing Agency and the Minister of State's own Department was involved in it. It was conducted by independent researchers looking at the Traveller accommodation programmes since their inception. The second report was the Behaviour & Attitudes Traveller Community National Survey, commissioned by the national Traveller data steering group. This report provides a very useful insight into the views of those members of the Traveller community who were surveyed on a range of issues. I will address the housing related issues today.

Both reports make for pretty grim reading about the current state of accommodation provision for many people in the Traveller community. For example, the Housing Agency study shows that at the end of 2016, only 39% of the targets contained in the 2014-18 Traveller accommodation programmes across the State have been achieved. This is very below target, and is substantially below previous programmes. From the report and from our own experience, we know there are real problems in accessing land and securing Part VIII planning permission in local authorities. This is due to opposition from the political system, communities or others.

My own research shows the startling number of councils that were not drawing down any of their Traveller accommodation programme funding in 2015 and 2016. Other councils make up that shortfall by drawing down more than was originally allocated. There are counties that are simply refusing to draw down funding that is available to them for programmes they have actually agreed themselves. It is remarkable. I do not have more recent figures but as of July 2017 only 9% of Government funding allocated for Traveller accommodation this year has been drawn down - €800,000 of €9 million.

The Behaviour & Attitudes Traveller survey also produced some startling figures. One in three Travellers was forced to move in recent times. For those Travellers who are under 25 years of age, it is one in five people. This is a significant level of forced displacement. A total of 40% of people surveyed answered that they were no longer a Traveller in a nomadic way because they had, essentially, been stopped through legal or other mechanisms.

There is an increasing and unhappy reliance on the private rental sector, which is very insecure and for Travellers it presents additional forms of discrimination. The survey showed a clear desire for secure accommodation close to family networks and in a range of accommodation types to suit their needs.

I raise these points with the Minister of State today because, on the back of this information, we have a real opportunity - I know he shares this view - to come together as political parties. Over the next year or so, as a result of the work I am sure the Minister of State is about to outline in his initial response, we can start to design out of our housing, planning and local government system the structural barriers, and in some cases the structural discrimination, experienced by the Traveller community in accessing quality and culturally specific accommodation. If that is the Government's intention, it will have our full support and we will put aside any party political differences or any constituency interests to ensure we do the right thing by this important section of our community.

It is important not only to remove those barriers that clearly exist, and the studies I have outlined highlight this, but to deal also with some new challenges especially the population growth in the Traveller community, the changing nature of family formations and the need to give Travellers, as we try to do with for wider community, real choice in meeting their accommodation needs. For those Traveller families that want it, this means secure, appropriate and Traveller specific accommodation.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ó Broin for raising this issue today and for all the discussion we have had around this topic. I know the commitment is genuine in trying to address the issue. I am happy to have the opportunity to update the House on the Traveller accommodation programme, TAP, and to review the next steps.

In accordance with the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, housing authorities have statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller accommodation programmes in their areas. My Department’s role is to ensure that there are adequate structures and supports in place to assist the authorities in providing such accommodation, including a national framework of policy, legislation and funding. I am also trying to ensure the funding is spent.

A Programme for a Partnership Government commits to establishing a special working group to audit the current delivery and implementation of local authorities’ Traveller accommodation plans and to consult with stakeholders on key areas of concern. This commitment was underpinned in Rebuilding Ireland, which provided for the commissioning by the Housing Agency, on behalf of the Department, of an expert, independent review of capital and current funding for Traveller specific accommodation for the period 2000 to date, having regard to the targets contained in the local authority TAPs and the actual units delivered, the current status of the accommodation funded and the funding provided for accommodation maintenance and other supports.

Following a tender process, a research company was selected by the Housing Agency to conduct the review. The researchers gathered and analysed all TAPs to date and related data from the Department and other sources. Based on this analysis, a series of surveys, specifically tailored to each local authority, was created. Following analysis of outcomes from this survey phase, a number of key stakeholders were identified for consultation. In all, 11 Traveller representative groups and seven local authorities were engaged by the researchers to explore issues arising from the earlier phase of research in greater detail.

Where targets were not met, the review provided an analysis of the underlying reasons, in order to identify the particular challenges that need to be addressed to underpin future progress.

The report was finalised and submitted to the national Traveller accommodation consultative committee, NTACC, for consideration at its meeting on 28 August 2017. The NTACC is a statutorily-appointed committee comprising key stakeholders, including Traveller representative groups, to advise me on Traveller accommodation matters. On foot of its consideration of the report, the NTACC collectively agreed to advise me to establish an expert group to examine and make recommendations on issues regarding Traveller accommodation policy, strategy and implementation. This in keeping with the programme for partnership Government and, as such, I have agreed to proceed with the establishment of the group. I have also agreed that a review of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 should be part of the work of the expert group. The composition, terms of reference and methodology of the group are currently being formulated with a view to it being put in place as soon as possible. I am happy to engage around that process.

I am aware of the national Traveller survey prepared by the philanthropic organisation, the Community Foundation for Ireland, the work of which I am familiar with in many other cases. The foundation does a great deal of good work and I am happy to engage with it on this also. The survey was not commissioned by my Department and is independent of the Government. However, my Department has taken note of the survey outcomes and, where appropriate, relevant elements of the survey will be taken into account by both my Department and the NTACC in its future Traveller accommodation policy and strategy work. I hope to have an opportunity myself to engage with the authors of the report.

To underline the Government's commitment to providing safe, Traveller-specific appropriate accommodation to members of the Traveller community, €9 million was announced for the delivery of Traveller-specific accommodation in 2017. This was an increase from €5.5 million in 2016. A further €4.22 million will also be paid to local authorities for specific accommodation-related supports under the current budget. These include salaries for social workers employed by housing authorities to engage with Travellers and their accommodation needs, caretaker salaries and site maintenance. Additional funding of €3 million was announced in the budget for Traveller-specific accommodation projects and developments in 2018, bringing the annual allocation to €12 million.

We hope to continue to increase the funding for this area in the years ahead, which is why I welcome the commitment from Deputy Ó Broin and his party to work with us to review the policy and make changes where necessary as well as to ensure that we achieve our targets. I accept that we are going to set higher targets as we allocate more money. I agree with Deputy Ó Broin on that. However, we have to be able to change the way this is delivered to ensure we get the results on the ground across all relevant local authorities. None of us is completely happy that every local authority is playing its part here. It will require all Members working on a cross-party basis to address this and solve the problem. We have a duty to do that. As we discussed earlier, the current element of the budget for this year will certainly be spent. We expect before the end of the year that the full capital spend will be drawn down. It is approximately 67 units out of 90, which means there is a bit of work to do. We hope to get it all spent and fully expect that will happen in the months ahead.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply and acknowledge, again, the commitment we have given to work with the Government on this to ensure we get the right result. I welcome the establishment of the expert group and look forward to the announcement the Minister will make following the receipt of correspondence from the national Traveller accommodation consultative committee. I welcome also the consultation that will form part of the work of the expert group. The membership of the group is crucial in terms of expertise, independence and adequate buy-in from the Traveller community and its advocacy organisations. I know the Minister of State accepts that. I would like to see the Oireachtas housing committee involved in some formal way. We will discuss that at the committee and come back to the expert group and the Minister of State with some recommendations early in the new year.

It is very important that all of this work is done within 12 months. If the group is established before the end of the year and really starts to work next year, not only its report and recommendations but any potential legislative changes should be got through by the end of next year in order that everything is in place as the framework through which the new batch of city and county councillors elected in 2019 will be working. That does not mean we do not have to look very hard at planning permission and the issue of Part 8 provision, in particular for those local authorities which have a long history of failing to adhere to their own obligations. We need to look at greater involvement in decision-making by the Traveller community because they sometimes feel consultation is more of a box-ticking exercise than a real form of decision-making. We must also look at the overall level of funding and move back towards the 2008 level of €40 million.

I welcome the Minister of State's comments on the 2017 spend. I suspect, however, that there will still be local authorities which have not spent any or very little of their allocations while others will have taken up the shortfall. We must get into the business of naming and shaming those local authorities publicly, which is why I have requested the information. Those who are doing a good job should be commended but those who repeatedly fail should be named and shamed so that the public knows who is responsible.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Ó Broin asked me at the end of his initial contribution about giving the Traveller community full choice, which is something I agree with completely. The Government is committed to enabling all households to access good quality housing appropriate to household circumstances in their communities of choice. It is open to Travellers to opt for any form of State-supported accommodation. Traveller accommodation needs are addressed to a significant extent through mechanisms other than Traveller-specific projects, for example general social housing or the private rental sector with supports such as the housing assistance payment. I accept, however, that while that is allowed for, it does not always happen or is not always easy. We need to improve that choice. It is there but it does not always happen. We need to work on that, which is something about which I also agree with the Deputy. Like members of any community, people want to have a choice, which is what we are trying to achieve through our Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness across all the sectors. People should feel they have a choice no matter what their record, their community, or their age, including people of older years. They have different circumstances and different choices. We all know that choice is very limited for many groups of people due to the pressures on the housing sector. We want to improve on that as well.

The recently completed review of the Traveller accommodation programme gives us the factual information and will be a key platform for the special expert group to progress its work effectively. I agree with Deputy Ó Broin that it is important to get the expert group right. I will take on board any advice in that regard. The process is there at the moment such that names will come back to us. We can then tease through that to ensure we have all the expertise. There is a desire to get this right and find ways to spend our money and increase resources to deliver choice for people effectively and in such a way as to secure value for money for the taxpayer. Every local authority must play its part. That is key. I share that view with the Deputy. I see no reason this cannot happen within 12 months. It is a very long timeframe. We should be able to do it sooner if we can. That will be our target. It would be ideal to have this report and be up and running as soon as we can.