Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I may not use all of my time. Like everybody else, I welcome the fact that Senator Flynn has ensured that we are discussing this issue. The Minister of State will be very serious about it and I have great faith in him to tackle it.

It is concerning that nine local authorities have not yet drawn down funding. Last year, only two-thirds of the funding allocated for Traveller accommodation was spent. It is an ongoing problem. It is fine to talk about €21 million in funding, which Senator Dolan mentioned, but we must remember that if we cannot find out what the real problem is it is of no use. We have to find out why so many local authorities are not spending their allocation.

There may be issues at times and I accept that not all of the money can be spent. That has to be looked into. Galway, for example, was allocated €1.41 million and spent 40%, or €670,000. I have been involved in several cases in Ballinasloe where people in the Traveller community are living in very poor conditions and want to live in houses. I would consider their housing as being unfit for humans.

I speak mainly to the mothers of teenagers and young children. One mother recently said to me that she wished she had a proper house for Christmas. Galway County Council got a considerable amount of money from the State to address this issue. Where is the problem there and with other local authorities? Why is this happening?I do not represent Longford but there has been very poor uptake in Longford as well.

Down through the years quite a lot of progress has been made but not enough. Why? Considering all of the things that have happened with legislation and all of the changes that have been made, there is still a real problem in Ireland with giving Travellers proper housing and accommodation. Let me give the following examples: the groundbreaking Equal Status Act was initiated by Fianna Fáil and came into effect in October 2000; the Traveller health unit was created in 2004; the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act was enacted in 1998; the Planning and Development Act 2000 introduced a Part V that obtained a social dividend for the private development of social housing, including Travellers; the national Traveller consultative committee was reconstituted in March 2007 along with the local Traveller accommodation consultative committee; Delivering Homes Sustaining Communities was delivered in August 2007; and a high-level group on Traveller issues was established at the request of the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, to examine ways of producing a more co-ordinated response by State bodies to address Traveller issues with a view to securing improved outcomes. The group's report was published on 21 March 2006, following its approval by the Government. The report included a wide range of conclusions and recommendations that covered the full spectrum of public service activity related specifically to Traveller accommodation. There are many more areas that I could reference.

A key development in advancing education for the Traveller community was the report and recommendations for a Traveller education strategy, which was launched by the then Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, in November 2006. In 2010, the Department of Education and Skills spent in excess of €17 million per annum directly on Traveller education that incorporated pre-school, primary, post-primary, and further and higher education. Those direct supports included: 29 segregated Traveller pre-schools; 503 resource teachers for Traveller pupils at primary level; additional teaching hours at post-primary level; enhanced capitation for Traveller pupils at primary and post-primary levels; the visiting teacher service for Travellers; schools transport arranged for Traveller pupils; and 33 senior Traveller training centres. I have only mentioned some of the initiatives. Despite a lot of things happening and being done we are still in a very poor predicament in terms of really tackling this problem.

The Minister of State may be unable to answer this but I would like to know why nine local authorities have not spent anything on Traveller accommodation. In most local authorities, where there might not be huge issues, there are people who need to be housed. I shall conclude by again referring to the mother of five children who told me that all she wants for Christmas is a proper home. So let us all remember that that mother and her children play a very important role in society.