Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

My contribution will lead on to a point I am trying to make around racism and discrimination. I love working here. I have met friends who I would have thought were enemies, if you like, before I came in. I have a good relationship with the majority of other Members. I genuinely feel I am an equal Member in this House who is able to vote and get up and have my say. Last night, I got a taxi home from town. The taxi driver refused to take me into my house on a halting site. If I went on to be the President of Ireland, a top surgeon or whatever I may wish to be, no matter what or who I am, to many people I am still just a member of the Traveller community. I am still just a pikey and a knacker; somebody who came from absolutely nothing. I felt that right to the gut of my stomach last night. I thought, "My God, I will never be good enough in society, no matter what I do."

I tried to speak to the driver and tell him I was a public representative and would not lose my job because of this fear. He refused and I said to myself I would not take this. I told the driver I would not pay him if he would not take me to my destination. To make a long story short, he told me he would ring the Garda. I told him, "No", I would be the one to ring the Garda because he was the one committing the crime rather than me. I called the Garda and the operator told me this was a waste of Garda time. I told the operator I understood that but a crime was going on, in that the driver was not bringing me to where I needed to be brought and I was not going to pay him the money. I explained I was a public representative and would not let any harm come to the taxi driver. The taxi driver told me he would take me in if the operator stayed on the phone. I had to go through all of that.

I welcome the hate crime legislation that will be brought before this House in the coming weeks. We have some small amendments to make to that Bill and I hope they will be accepted. I also welcome the €1 million from the national action plan against racism to tackle racism in this country. We have a long way to go before we tackle racism in this country. I was not brought in to where I needed to go and judged on the basis of everybody in the community. We do not judge settled people. We do not say that the gangs we are seeing nowadays are all the same but, unfortunately, a member of the Traveller community in 2023, no matter if the person is a Senator or anything else, will experience racism and discrimination. We need to do more than tackle it; we need to protect people and put good legislation in place.

I wished to share that story with colleagues this morning and encourage people to do what I did last night, that is, call the Garda. People in those situations are not wasting Garda time. They are not committing the crime. The person who is refusing to bring them home is committing the crime.