Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and the members of the Traveller community and the settled community who are in the Gallery. This Bill is a no-brainer. I am delighted to have been invited to be a co-signatory of the Bill by Senator Kelleher, and I am very proud of that. The Bill advocates a simple and sensible change which will help not only to improve the level of knowledge of our future citizens but to shine a light on a neglected and often misunderstood community which is an integral part of our Irish society. I commend Senator Mac Lochlainn on his contribution to this debate.

We cannot live up to our proud claim to cherish all the children equally if we turn our backs on this important yet modest legislation. I would hope it will be put into force, sooner rather than later, by the Department of Education and Skills with the full support of the Government. For too long Traveller culture, the living, breathing and evolving culture of Ireland's largest minority ethnic group, has been ignored. We heard this morning from Catherine Joyce of the Irish Traveller Movement who illustrated this point in detail in her briefing on the importance of this Bill. That ignorance has resulted not only in members of the Traveller community experiencing exclusion and racism on a daily basis but has allowed a wider acceptance of misunderstandings and ignorance prevail. The role of the community in protecting and transmitting our cultural history, for example, is not known to most Irish people. Many aspects of our musical heritage, as just one example, would not have survived through to contemporary times without the nurturing and sheltering given by the Traveller community. Have they received acknowledgement for this? No, I believe they have not.

As we heard from Thomas McCann, the manager of the Traveller Counselling Service, who is in the Gallery today, this Bill is about human rights. It is about inclusivity and an intercultural approach to learning and knowledge. It is about recognition of the contributions made by the Traveller community and the importance that recognising such contributions can have in informing the rest of Irish society's views. It is about enhancing the cultural education of all our children. They will all benefit from a wider understanding of the colourful array of ethnicity and cultural backgrounds and the human diversity that will make us stronger as a nation.