Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I listened to Kathleen Lawrence when she spoke at the launch of the children's rights report card in the Mansion House a couple of weeks ago. The Government received a D grade for progress on Traveller and Roma children. She spoke perfectly about childhood experience in the world we live in and the discrimination she and her family and friends face.

I want to speak about the recent presidential campaign. We should not forget that when candidates pick on a small community, in that case the Traveller community, and I say this as a gay man, these politicians or groups generally have a shopping list and it will not stop with the Traveller community. There is an onus on all of us to stand together against what we saw in the campaign and the attempts to isolate a small group of people for political gain. The LGBT community has adopted the pink triangle to give urgency to political issues. We know it was assigned by the Nazis in concentration camps. A black triangle was assigned by the Nazis to Roma people. Lesbians also wore the black triangle, which should be noted.

I thank the Leader for facilitating the debate, which I requested, as did Senator Kelleher. The basis of both requests was the shameful 44% underspend by local authorities on the Traveller accommodation programme. There was an underspend in 2017 when only €4.8 million of the €8.7 million was spent, which was a 45% underspend. According to the responses to parliamentary questions, ten local authorities that received allocations under the programme did not draw them down. Only seven local authorities spent the entirety or more of their allocation, namely, South Dublin County Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Fingal County Council, Kerry County Council, Tipperary County Council and Waterford City and County Council. Only two did so for two years running, namely, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Tipperary County Council. It was the Minister of State, Deputy English, who outlined in response to a parliamentary question from Deputy Ó Broin that if it becomes clear that allocations, or parts thereof, remain unspent, they will be diverted to alternative projects and developments. Where a local authority does not spend its allocation, will it be diverted to other avenues? Does it get returned to the same pot? If it is underspent, is it possible to put it in the pot for the following year and divert it to local authorities that will spend it? As a republican, I believe decisions should be made as close to the people as possible. If local authorities are not doing the job they should be doing on Traveller accommodation, we need to have a conversation about where these decisions can be made.

Aside from some very reasonable justification by some local authorities for the underspend, anti-Traveller prejudice exists among some local representatives, some local authority staff and some local communities. I say this because prejudice is a contributing factor that needs to be addressed. Professor Michelle Norris from the expert group reviewing the Traveller accommodation programmes told the joint committee on housing that the real problem with the programmes is in implementation and projects getting off the ground in local areas. I appreciate that the Department offers its assistance in this regard but it is becoming clear that local authorities are not spending these allocations despite these offers of assistance. This may not be enough to encourage take-up of the programme or its objectives. Will the Minister of State indicate what tangible differences from what happened in 2018 will we have in future? I am aware that many parties are at fault, but the Minister of State taking a more insistent and active role might be significant for delivery.

I also want to reference the inquest into the Carrickmines fire in 2015. The Glenamuck site where the tragedy took place was established in 2008 as an emergency temporary halting site by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. It was not subject to the same health and safety regulations as permanent sites. In response to a parliamentary question from Deputy Adams asking how this would be addressed, it was stated that while there is no specific time limit for the use of sites on a temporary basis under the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, local authorities are required to make adequate provision for transient and permanent sites in the Traveller accommodation programmes. Since the courts determined there was a lack of clarity in this instance and that the sites have been rented for years on end by families but do not have the same health and safety regulations as people living in permanent or long-term accommodation, this is an opportunity for the Minister of State to provide legislative clarity in the law, whether through statutory instrument or otherwise. This was a clear recommendation of the inquest and it is the prerogative of the Minister of State to choose whether to act. I respectfully ask that he gives this issue due attention regardless of the expert group review.Given the seriousness of an inquest recommendation like this, it would only make sense to act appropriately on what the courts have requested.