Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has asked for Members' comments and I am sharing mine with him. In fairness, Members have shared these comments many times in these Houses over the past five years.

The issue of Traveller-specific accommodation must be tackled as it is not simply an issue of trying to settle Travellers into social housing. There must be an approach that is cognisant of the specific needs of the Traveller community. This morning, I attended the launch of a report on people in direct provision and how they are trying to transition into social housing and they also have highly specific difficulties that must be addressed. I have concerns that there appears to be a huge emphasis on the private sector supporting many of the initiatives that have been put forward. Members of Sinn Féin obviously always put forward our views that the State should have more of a role. The Minister mentioned that only 72 houses were built last year by local authorities whereas in previous decades, ambitious State building programmes were undertaken. Sinn Féin seeks much more of an emphasis on that type of programme, which appears to be lacking here. I am concerned there is an over-emphasis on the private market doing the building and so on. Some such concerns have in fairness been raised by Senator Davitt about the availability of people for the workforce but the way the private sector has approached the building sector in recent years also leaves a lot to be desired.

I will conclude on a point that was raised with me yesterday, on how there certainly will be pressure on local authorities to row in behind the scheme. I attended an Oireachtas Members briefing with Galway County Council yesterday at which we were told the council is already under pressure due to lack of staffing and has a €2 million shortfall for next year. I also find that between Galway city and county councils, an amount of between €1 million and €1.5 million has been lost because of the global valuation of rates. The councils are under huge pressure and do not have staff in-house to do this. The Minister might address the issue of how local authorities with their existing staffing complements will be able to support the ambitious programme he has put forward. I look forward to further debates with the Minister in the coming months and I am sure we will have many of them.