Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I thank Senator Norris for sharing his time with me. I have been involved in this issue for many years. One of my assentors for my very first election campaign was Nan Joyce, a spokesperson at the time for the Traveller movement. There is a need to ensure we take the proper approach on the Traveller issue. I listened carefully to the Minister of State's speech but did not think it as patronising as others appear to have found it. It touched on issues which I consider important and the only aspect which I could possibly find patronising was the comment about television programmes. The criticism that not enough has been done is important, however.

We must investigate the issue of suicide within the Traveller community because suicide rates among Travellers are now four times higher than in the rest of the population. I would like to set targets in areas such as infant mortality, suicide and alcoholism, all of which have high rates within the Traveller community.

Difficulties have arisen with various local authorities but it should be acknowledged that Fine Gael has been quicker than any other party to recognise the importance of this issue. On a number of occasions over the past three years, its leader has hauled in errant councillors who went beyond the bounds of acceptable language when dealing with Travellers.