Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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372. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the amount of money allocated to Mayo County Council for Traveller accommodation in the past five years by his Department; the amount of money that has been used; if he will state if any of this funding was returned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16231/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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In accordance with the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller accommodation programmes, designed to meet the accommodation needs of Travellers, rests with individual housing authorities. My Department's role is to ensure that there is an adequate legislative and financial system in place to assist the authorities in providing such accommodation.

Accommodation for Travellers is provided across a range of options including standard local authority housing which is financed from my Department's Social Housing Investment Programme (SHIP), Traveller-specific accommodation such as group housing and halting site bays and funded by means of 100% capital grant, private housing assisted by local authorities or voluntary housing bodies, private rented accommodation and through their own resources. It is open to Travellers to opt for any form of accommodation, including Traveller-specific accommodation, and local authority programmes are intended to reflect these preferences.

The capital allocations and amounts recouped to Mayo County Council in respect of Traveller-specific accommodation over the past five years are set out in the following table:

The 2012 allocation included an amount related to the proposed acquisition of a property to accommodate a Traveller family which ultimately did not proceed. In addition to the provision of capital funding for Traveller-specific accommodation, my Department also provides funding for a range of support services, including local authority social workers and caretakers, which operate in tandem with the capital programme. Over the period 2010 to 2013, €964,301 was recouped by my Department to Mayo County Council for this purpose.