Colette Kelleher (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I endorse the sentiments expressed and points made by Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell. We very much need to progress the implementation of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act.

I wish to raise two recent reports with major significance for the Traveller community. The first is the findings of the inquest into the Carrickmines fire tragedy, which were published last week. As we know, ten people lost their lives in this fire. I acknowledge how difficult the process must have been for the families affected. It is worth noting and was highlighted in an excellent article by Jacinta Brack of the Irish Traveller Movement in today's edition of thejournal.iethat in the year following the Carrickmines fire, three other fires occurred at halting sites in Ballyfermot, Limerick and Wicklow. Thankfully, there was no loss of life but safety remains a major concern, especially on overcrowded sites. This matter has not been addressed adequately. I welcome the recommendations made in the inquest report. It is important for all of us to know about them, take them on board and monitor Government leadership and action on them.

According to the Irish Traveller Movement, since the publication of the report of the National Directorate Fire and Emergency Management in September 2016, the threats to the safety of Travellers posed by substandard accommodation remain a clear and present danger. The number of Traveller families living in overcrowded conditions has risen and now stands at more than 1,000 families, an increase in excess of 150 families since the report of the National Directorate Fire and Emergency Management was published three years ago. The impact in terms of the numbers of people affected is rising. The Irish Traveller Movement contends that there is a direct correlation between overcrowding and shared accommodation, which poses a fundamental threat to the safety of Travellers.

Three years on, these threats have not been adequately addressed. According to the director of the Irish Traveller Movement, Bernard Joyce, there has been no national audit of Traveller fire safety since 2016 and no monitoring report of the completion of the programme from the first review. While some local authorities have worked towards fire prevention strategies, there is no audit of completion or fulfilment. The inadequate provision of accommodation for Travellers is at an all-time high. There have been other fires since 2015. The review of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act that is under way must take into account overcrowding and the poor standard of existing temporary Traveller accommodation and its overuse for long-term stays. The dangers faced by Travellers living in overcrowded conditions remain and I ask the Leader to ask the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to outline the measures that are being put in place to ensure that tragedies like Carrickmines never happen again.

I also ask that the Leader invite the Minister to respond to a European Committee of Social Rights report that was also published last week. The report found that Ireland failed to redress violations in breach of the European Social Charter related to five grounds for Travellers, including insufficient provision and inadequate quality of Traveller accommodation, breaches involving the operation of evictions and the lack of legal aid for those threatened. In light of both reports, will the Leader ask the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to give us a full update of the Government's responses to the Carrickmines fire report, the European Committee of Social Rights and the review of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act that is in train?