Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being here. I am standing here again today to raise an important issue around the energy relief that was promised to us all. As we know, the electricity costs emergency benefits scheme that was first promised to us all last year was for the sum of €200 in 2022. This has been extended to €600 over 2022 and early this year. However, many members of the Traveller community have still not received the full credit, or any credit at all, because of the type of accommodation they live in.

National Traveller MABS and I have sought clarity and action on these issues. We received a guarantee from the Minister that the situation would be addressed. However, National Traveller MABS is still hearing of members of the Traveller community who have not received any credit to date. We were given a guarantee from the Minister that the credit would no longer be taken from the Traveller accommodation fund, but we still heard of this happening late last year.

National Traveller MABS first wrote to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, last January looking for a meeting to get clarity, where the Department explained to us about the lack of individual meter point reference numbers, MPRNs, and the issue of doubling up.We explained about Traveller accommodation, how many Travellers share one meter and how many Traveller families live in overcrowded accommodation. We asked the Minister how it would be rolled out and what the timeline would be. Unfortunately we never received answers to those questions.

Last year I met the Minister of State and he agreed that the credit would not come from Traveller funding and the Traveller community would be treated equally to people who are not living in official Traveller halting sites or Traveller accommodation. We thank the Minister of State for his time and commitment in this area. However, many members of the Traveller community are being left behind and have not received any credit. I will make a long speech short and get right to the questions.

The questions from National Traveller MABS and I are as follows. How will the scheme be rolled out to make sure that every Traveller household will receive a full energy credit? When will the households who missed out on a credit be issued the credit? What is the timeframe for this? What systems have been put in place to make sure that the credits are not being taken from the Traveller accommodation budget? I am aware that the credit that has been taken from the Traveller accommodation budget looks as if it will be reimbursed but how will that happen? National Traveller MABS has requested a meeting with the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, or the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan. Can the Minister of State commit to that meeting today?

Again, I stand here talking about what is not being done for Travellers. However, it is very important to give credit where credit is due when we can, to the Sligo local authority which was very productive. It went to the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications to look for funding and received it. It put in meters for every Traveller family who was impacted and I would like to see more local authorities be as productive as the Sligo local authority. If the Minister of State could answer those three questions I would appreciate that.