Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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32. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the expenditure each year for the past ten years, including to date in 2021, on Traveller-specific housing; the total number of Travellers on housing lists across the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54327/21]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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In accordance with the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, the role of my Department is to ensure that there are adequate structures and supports in place to assist housing authorities in providing accommodation for Travellers, including a national framework of policy, legislation and funding.

The total funding recouped to local authorities for expenditure on the provision of Traveller specific accommodation for the last ten years including 2021 to date is set out in tabular from below.

There is no figure for the total number of traveller families on local authority housing lists throughout the country as people are not required to identify their ethnicity when applying for social housing assessment.

One of the recommendations of the Traveller Accommodation Expert Review report, commissioned in 2018 by the then Minister of State,  is to amend the assessment regulations governing the Social Housing Support application form to allow for a Traveller 'ethnic' identifier so that Traveller applicants for housing supports can be identified and have their housing needs planned for. 

A Programme Board has been established by my Department to drive implementation of the recommendations. One of the recommendations being considered in the 2021 work programme is the inclusion of a Traveller identifier on the Social Housing Support application form.

In the 2020 Summary of Social Housing Assessments produced by the Housing Agency and published by my Department in March 2021, a total of 1,047 households (or 1.7% of the overall total of applicants) nationwide expressed an interest in Traveller specific accommodation. However, this cannot be read as the total number of Traveller families on the housing lists list as many Travellers express a preference for standard social housing.