Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 384: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will establish a statutory all-Ireland traveller accommodation agency, as recommended by the Report of the Task Force on the Travelling Community 1995 which would ensure that the Traveller accommodation programmes are of a quality standard that is uniform across the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25765/09]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 385: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will establish an all-Ireland programme for provision for nomadism, in co-operation with all local authorities here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25766/09]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 386: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the criteria used to assess progress in Traveller accommodation programmes. [25767/09]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 384 to 386, inclusive, together.

In accordance with the provisions of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998, responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller Accommodation Programmes (TAPs) rests with individual housing authorities. The proposal for a statutory all-Ireland Traveller accommodation agency, as set out in the 1995 Task Force report, was considered by my Department. However, it was subsequently decided not to establish such an agency and I have no plans to review the matter or to establish an all-Ireland programme in relation to nomadism.

The 1998 Act provided for the preparation of TAPs, in which housing authorities are required to address the existing accommodation needs of Travellers and the projected need that will arise during the period of the programmes, across a range of accommodation options including standard social housing and Traveller-specific accommodation such as group housing schemes and permanent and transient halting sites. The assessment of the requirements for sites which is carried out in that context must include an assessment of the need for transient sites to accommodate Travellers, other than in their normal place of residence, having regard to their annual patterns of movement.

My Department has requested the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee (NTACC), which was established under the 1998 Act to advise the Minister in relation to matters concerning accommodation for Travellers, to consider the extent of the current need for transient sites and how this need could best be addressed. The report of the NTACC will inform future policy in this regard.

The first TAPs commenced in 2000 and the current programmes cover the five-year period from 2009 to 2013. The Memorandum on the Preparation, Adoption and Implementation of Local Authority Traveller Accommodation Programmes, a copy of which is available on my Department's website, www.environ.ie, provides advice and guidelines on the preparation, adoption and implementation of the current TAPs.

In order to support effective implementation of TAPs, I have directed local authorities to include annual targets in their programmes, including targets in relation to the range of accommodation types required and the number of families to be accommodated. These targets form the basis for assessing progress in the context of TAP reviews which housing authorities are required to carry out at least once in every three years. Progress by housing authorities in implementing their TAPs is also subject to review by the NTACC.