Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure the Senator that it is not a delaying tactic. I only inherited this role a few months ago. There is no agreement on the best way to spend this money. I am not happy in the same way as the Senator is not happy that the money is not being spent where it should be. There are accommodation issues. The budget has increased over the past year. We made sure of that as well. My job as Minister of State is to make sure it is spent.

I will not comment on the review because it is not published yet. I will have no problem commenting on it when it is published next week but, as a habit, I do not comment on leaked documents. We can discuss it in greater detail when it is published next week. Again, it highlights many of the issues that need to be addressed. We must find ways of spending this money. When the committee agrees who will be on the expert commission, I hope it involve some international experts to find ways of making sure we honour our commitments because it is a priority for Government. We are putting the money back in where it should be. I agree with the Senator that if one analyses many of the local authority waiting lists, one sees there is a difficulty for people from Traveller backgrounds, so we need to address that. Likewise, they have different issues as well. Some of them want to live in different places, so we need to accommodate that as best we can. There is no excuse for money not being spent. Along with the review and the report of the commission, I will try to engage with local authorities to make sure the money is spent this year and the year ahead.