Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Civil Engagement Group, I wish all women in civil society a happy International Women's Day. Our thoughts and prayers today are with the women of Ukraine, as well as Syrian and Yemeni women and children and all those who are living in war and violence.

I want to talk a little bit today about the National Traveller Women's Forum, which is a Traveller women's organisation. I am on a career break from the forum, having worked for it for almost three years before I came to this House. The National Traveller Women's Forum acknowledges that Travellers were recognised as an ethnic minority group five years ago.However, the National Traveller Women’s Forum is putting the question to this House today: has enough been done in the past five years? The answer is clearly not. For instance, homelessness levels have increased. We saw the Ombudsman for Children’s report last year that let children tell us in their own words how their right to safe and secure accommodation has been violated.

The National Traveller Women’s Forum and all Traveller women have been fighting for decades for a higher standard of Traveller accommodation, better outcomes for our children and for ourselves in education, better employment opportunities and better access to health services, including targeted mental health supports and a strategy to address the Traveller mental health crisis, when we know that Traveller women are six times more likely to die by suicide than women in the general population. The fight continues and so does the struggle for wider gender equality and recognition. Traveller women’s views are rarely looked for when wider gender policy is developed by Government. At the same time, we know that Traveller women are making important contributions to Irish society in many different professions.

The phrase “if you can’t see it, you can’t be it” is important but often thrown around. Many Traveller women see it but while we have the ability and the desire to be it, unfortunately the opportunities are not always there for us and for our community. What we want, and what the National Traveller Women's Forum wants, is a better and brighter future for our children, our grandchildren and for the next generation.

The National Traveller Women’s Forum in standing in solidarity with all ethnic minority women today and women in Ireland who experience systemic racism and sexism. We stand with women who are working towards equality within our own communities as well as with the majority population.

Finally our thoughts and prayers are with all in Ukraine and refugees from Ukraine.