Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House. Well done to Senator Flynn, in particular, for getting to the Seanad. I had a much cushier upbringing than she did and it is always easier to succeed when one has all the rights open to one from day one. It is also important to acknowledge that it is not just Senator Flynn's job to sort out this situation; the responsibility lies with every Member of this House and the Lower House. Let us not leave all this to Senator Flynn to sort out. It is up to every human working in the Government to sort this issue out and we do not want to dump it all on one individual.

There was not much in the programme for Government on this but it states clearly that we must "Ensure that the housing needs of the Traveller Community are met by local authorities and ensure that existing funding is fully drawn down and utilised." It does not say "utilised appropriately" but the Government has made a crystal clear commitment. I will stick to my notes as I have been known to say the wrong thing or be misinterpreted. We have a shared responsibility in this House and the Lower House to ensure this happens.

In fairness to the national Government, it has provided the money required for Traveller accommodation. For decades, however, we have failed to ensure the money is spent appropriately by the local authorities. This Government recognised the Traveller community as an ethnic minority in March 2017. However, it now needs to recognise that local authorities have failed year on year to spend the allocation for housing this ethnic minority needs and deserves. We need to find out why is this happening. Do we have to call it out? Is it racism? What is the real underlying issue at play here? We also need to insist that whoever is appointed by the local authority to implement the Traveller accommodation programme is not racist, has complete and full engagement with the Traveller community and will not be dictated to.I was also engaging with the Irish Traveller Movement on this matter. The lack of adequate supply and quality of accommodation for Travellers is well documented. We all know about it and can talk about it forever. It is a well-known fact. I remember it was an issue when I was working with a Traveller training centre more than 17 years ago. Nothing has changed; in fact, it has got worse, if anything. Over decades, there has been a lack of motivation to deliver accommodation due to structural and institutional opposition and apathy across Traveller-specific accommodation, standard housing, private rented housing and homeless provision. That has resulted in massive underutilisation of these allocations. Local authorities are always crying out for more funding for everything and yet, in this instance, they are not spending the funding.

This is the year 2020 and it is no longer acceptable because all humans are equal, we know that now, and we have to show that to the young people. It is sad that I have been to more funerals of Travellers who have committed suicide than I have to funerals of settled people who have done so, even though there are many more settled people than Traveller people. There is something wrong with that. We all know of Abraham Maslow's theory that if people's human rights and basic needs of food, accommodation and shelter are not met, it leads to other issues. In this day and age, we have to look at that. The rate of suicide in the Traveller community is shocking. It is bad enough in the settled community but why is it worse in the Traveller community? We all know this has been an issue for a long time.

It is also important to accept that Travellers have different needs. Senator Flynn alluded to that point. Some Travellers still want to be nomadic and to have a caravan forever while others want to be in a house. We listen to the needs of individual settled people when it comes to housing, so why do we not do so for Traveller people? I remember instances in the past where Travellers were given a house when they had never asked for one. They were given a house they did not want and never asked for. People have to be given what they need and not what someone else thinks they need. The only way that will happen is to recognise that the Travellers themselves have to have a voice and be involved and engaged with on every step relating to accommodation and their needs.

This is an embarrassing situation for the Government in 2020 and we must rectify it. I know that we can set up another committee, legislative or otherwise, but the bottom line is that we need action now. We need to find out exactly what is going on and why local authorities are not spending the money. I hope I will not be here this time next year making the same speech again.