Results 61-80 of 1,123 for speaker:Eileen Flynn

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Give Travellers the Floor: Discussion (18 Apr 2024)

Eileen Flynn: As Mr. Martin Ward said earlier, we are a strong community despite the racism and discrimination, and the fewer opportunities available to us and previous generations. We see that inequality every day. John in the restaurant always asks if I have brought in my family yet. I realised today that I do not have one relation in the room so that if anything happens, no one is related to me. I...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Give Travellers the Floor: Discussion (18 Apr 2024)

Eileen Flynn: I thank Ms Corcoran. I invite Ms O'Donoghue to make her statement.

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Give Travellers the Floor: Discussion (18 Apr 2024)

Eileen Flynn: I thank Ms O'Donoghue. Before we call our next speaker, I welcome the young people with us in the Chamber. When we were discussing the day's events with the National Traveller Women's Forum and the other national organisations, including Exchange House Ireland National Travellers Service and Involve, we regarded it as crucial to have young people in the Chamber. All the young people here...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Education Policy: Department of Education (11 Apr 2024)

Eileen Flynn: I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. For me, sitting here, I have written down many statistics and figures that have been thrown out in front of us this morning. I am thinking of my little four-year-old at home who wants to be a doctor. She is in early education. When she grows up she wants to be a doctor, and I hope with all my heart my child has the same equality of opportunities as any...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Education Policy: Department of Education (11 Apr 2024)

Eileen Flynn: It is the lack of implementation. I believe in fairness. I believe we are all in politics for the right reasons and that we work in NGOs for the right reasons. We start off on a good footing and we want better equality of opportunities for all children. However, we genuinely need the political will to implement the things that already exist and we already have. The community is...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Education Policy: Department of Education (11 Apr 2024)

Eileen Flynn: I am interested in hearing more about reduced timetables and health assessments. As a member of the education committee, I am aware that there are some children who must be on a reduced timetable because it is better for them and their ability to learn and take in information. However, there are too many Traveller children on reduced timetables, unfortunately. Many parents believe their...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Education Policy: Department of Education (11 Apr 2024)

Eileen Flynn: It is really important that we look at the positives too and I would say that Traveller parents are more aware of reduced timetables, have more information on them and know that they can intervene. It is important to acknowledge that. I hope that when we get the next report, we will see that the figures have dropped. When we talk about children with additional needs or complex needs, that...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Education Policy: Department of Education (11 Apr 2024)

Eileen Flynn: We had a meeting with the Department in November, which was very good. I left it feeling so energised, that the Department was trying its best in respect of equal opportunities for members of the Traveller community in the education system. I have had mothers come up to me in Labre Park halting site to tell me that their child is on a reduced timetable and that Tusla does not have anything...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Education Policy: Department of Education (11 Apr 2024)

Eileen Flynn: The hot meals and the breakfast clubs for children are very much welcomed by the Traveller community. I have a lot of criticism because I can see history keep repeating itself. I know the good work that individuals in the Department of Education and organisations are doing. Again, when that young woman or man reaches the age of 16, what happens? Is that down to poverty? When we were in...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Education Policy: Department of Education (11 Apr 2024)

Eileen Flynn: Before the meeting closes, I want to say that next Thursday, we will be joined by Travellers in the Seanad Chamber for a meeting of this committee. The meeting will cover the subjects scrutinised by this committee, including education, employment, accommodation and health, including mental health. I would love the Departments to look in and see the line-up of speakers that we have - young...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Education Policy: Department of Education (11 Apr 2024)

Eileen Flynn: I think we are launching NTRIS on 25 April.

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Education Policy: Department of Education (11 Apr 2024)

Eileen Flynn: My stepsister is a youth worker in Exchange House Ireland. She was saying that the Department was in there a few weeks ago with some young children.

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Education Policy: Department of Education (11 Apr 2024)

Eileen Flynn: Approximately six months ago I was talking about extra activities for Travellers. A young girl wanted to start Irish dancing, but did not have the money to do it. I asked myself who I could contact to get this child the support to go into Irish dancing. Again, I signposted the mother back to the local community. Can we maybe look at special additional funds for Travellers who want to be...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Education Policy: Department of Education (11 Apr 2024)

Eileen Flynn: At a launch on poverty day last year, I raised the issue of education and the need for more home school liaison teachers. I know the importance of the home school liaison teacher from when I was coming up through school, whether it was getting that bar of chocolate or cup of tea, or having someone you could talk to. It was what really supported me to come through the education system. I...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Mar 2024)

Eileen Flynn: I apologise. I am late due to another commitment this morning. I met Ms Heavey and her team from Community Law and Mediation and people from FLAC a few weeks ago to discuss issues that have an impact on the Traveller community around accommodation and from a justice perspective. This committee is dealing with accommodation, health, including mental health, education and employment at the...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Mar 2024)

Eileen Flynn: It is about education. Ms O'Sullivan is talking about the Equal Status Acts. There are 40,000 Travellers in Ireland. Activists are educated about the Equal Status Acts because we are in the sector and we know where to go. Many members of the Traveller community would not have the first knowledge about those Acts to enable them to decide to take a case. Many do not know about them. If,...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Mar 2024)

Eileen Flynn: For the record, the committee invited CLM and FLAC as part of the discussion on accommodation. That was my point. We need at least 20 CLM and FLAC offices to deal with the demand. You have to live in the community to understand the number of cases that Travellers would have to take given that these incidents happen daily as a result of the level of racism and discrimination. Hatred has...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Mar 2024)

Eileen Flynn: Training judges is a brilliant recommendation. In the past two years, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has appointed more women judges. It is important to know that members of the Traveller community can go on and be judges too. It is also important to create that opportunity for members of our community. We could go from here until Christmas talking about experiences. For example, a...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Mar 2024)

Eileen Flynn: That is fine to a certain extent. We can do training for judges because that has not been done before. I am gone past the point of training teachers or training people to deal with other human beings. As Deputy Ó Cuív has said here numerous times, pilot programmes and training can be a pure waste of time. We are kicking the can down the road. We are not doing the implementation...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Mar 2024)

Eileen Flynn: I thank CLM and FLAC for coming in today. I think justice is a critical part of equality for Travellers. Whether it is top down, bottom up or however you might like to describe it, we have to deal with the over-representation of Travellers in our prison system and the level of homelessness in the Traveller community. Even last year, Travellers did not have access to the €300...