Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
SPECIFIC HIRING TARGETS for recruitment of Travellers to the public sector and Civil Service bodies was one of the 22 recommendations to tackle unemployment in a key report issued today.
The 2016 Census found that 80% of Travellers in the labour force were unemployed with the report stating factors that contribute to this include discrimination and a reluctance to employ Travellers as well as a lack of educational attainment.
At the launch, chairperson Senator Eileen Flynn said that “this report cannot be allowed to gather dust on a shelf”.
Over the years there have been numerous reports and studies which have highlighted the extreme difficulties and challenges faced by the Traveller community. I’m afraid that those reports have not been successful in improving Travellers lives.
Flynn emphasised the importance of the implementation of these recommendations which she said have the potential to “change the lives of our community for the better”. She added that “parliamentary oversight of implementation is critically important”.
Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, Leas Chathaoirleach of the Committee said the cross-party nature of this report gives this document “particular importance and status”. He added that one of the key issues was accommodation which he said impacts employment, education and health.
Committee finds health and safety issues on sites
As part of their preparation of the report, members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee travelled to seven Traveller accommodation sites which Flynn said was “an education experience for the Committee members”.
“We visited one halting site, where they told us they were waiting 23 years on promises but no action,” said Ó Cuív.
Watch our recent discussion with key Traveller advocates on the cycle of disadvantage for Traveller children here>>
Labre Park Traveller housing scheme in Ballyfermot was one of two sites visited in Dublin. Noteworthy recently reported that a hepatitis A outbreak on this site left five Traveller children hospitalised last year. The HSE’s outbreak report found the sanitation infrastructure at the site “remains inadequate, while the planned upgrade of the residential site is outstanding”.
The members also visited four sites in Galway, including the Carrowbrowne Transient Site, where Traveller advocates reported that children were left “for 18 months without heat and water throughout the height of the pandemic”.
The Joint Oireachtas Committee “noted several potential health and safety issues on several of the sites, including issues around fire safety, such as a lack of fire hoses on one site”. They also found that “their experience on site matched the conditions reported by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office No End in Site report”.
Overcrowding was an issue on every site visited, with one family of eight living in a single bedroom house. The Committee was also struck with an apparent lack of forward planning in Traveller accommodation to take into account growing families and new family unit creation.
Of these visits, the Committee “was struck by the pride and passion displayed by the residents they met in maintaining and caring for their homes” and concluded that “the problems regarding site upkeep lie not with the residents of the sites but with the local authorities charged with maintaining them”.
Urgent audit and repeal of trespass legislation
Advertisement
One of the main recommendations on accommodation in the report is an urgent audit of living conditions in all Traveller specific and halting sites and immediate action to address deficiencies.
Between 2008 and 2018, just two thirds (€110.6 million) of the €168.8 million allocated to local authorities for Traveller-specific accommodation was drawn down. Our recent TOUGH START investigation also found that funding red tape has led to low output of Traveller-specific accommodation.
To address funding issues, the report recommends that where local authorities are failing to implement their Traveller-specific accommodation funding, decision-making should be transferred to An Bord Pleanála and money not drawn down should be made available to Traveller groups and resident associations.
“Nomadism is a deeply significant aspect of Traveller culture,” according to the report, yet “there are currently no transient sites and no plans for the same in any of the 31 local authority areas”.
Additionally, the implementation of trespass legislation has had a severe impact on members of the Traveller community who want to engage in nomadism.
On this, the Committee recommended the establishment of a network of transient sites across the country and the repeal of trespass legislation, in particular in relation to public land, until this network of transient sites is in place.
Action plans needed as a matter of urgency
There were a number of common recommendations across each of the sectors covered.
The development and implementation of key action plans and strategies were among these, including “as a matter of urgency” the long-awaited National Traveller Health Action Plan and National Traveller Education Strategy.
The Committee also called for a ring-fenced budget within the HSE and the restoration of dedicated funding for Traveller Education that was cut during recession.
Mandatory cultural awareness and anti-racism training was recommended for all serving teachers, across all State services that engage with Travellers and for all staff working in employment activation and support.
Impact of racism and discrimination
Mental health was one of the key areas examined by the Committee who called on the implementation of the National Traveller Mental Health Strategy.
The Committee said there is a crisis in mental health in the Traveller community, with the report stating that “90% of Travellers agreed that mental health problems were common in their community, with suicide being the cause of 11% of Traveller deaths”.
The Joint Committee acknowledges that experiences of racism, exclusion and discrimination that members of the Traveller community face on a daily basis have a profound and deeply troubling impact on their mental health and is a contributory factor to the crisis in mental health among Travellers.
Another key recommendation was the implementation and roll-out of ethnic equality monitoring across all health administrative systems.Our recent investigation found that ethnicity identifiers are not being recorded as part of numerous HSE reports, health statistics and, most recently, the Covid vaccine rollout.
An immediate report prepared in relation to the effects of the pandemic on the Traveller community was also requested by the Committee.
Reduced timetables – a growing trend
Education was also addressed with the report outlining the stark statistics facing the community, such as 18% of Traveller children having no formal education compared to 1.4% of the general population and 62% of Travellers experiencing discrimination at school.
Related Reads
Tough Start Live: How can the cycle of disadvantage be stopped for Traveller children?
'An ongoing risk': Hep A outbreak at council site left five Traveller children hospitalised
Home by 10am: 'Misuse' of reduced school days leaving a generation of Traveller children 'lost'
The “abuse” of reduced school days was one of the main focuses of our recent investigation and something that numerous Traveller advocates highlighted. We found that many Traveller children are routinely put on ‘reduced hours’ at school – with at least one student on just 40 minutes a day.
Listen to The Explainer x Noteworthy discuss the conditions faced by Traveller children in the country’s education system here>>
Several witnesses flagged to the Committee “a growing trend in recent years” of placing Traveller students at both primary level and post-primary level on reduced hours, “often without giving notice to their parents or receiving their consent”.
The Committee heard that the use of reduced school days can severely impact on a child’s educational opportunities and outcomes.
To address this, they recommended – as per new guidelines recently issued by the Department of Education – that their use should be strictly limited to exceptional circumstances and monitored to ensure that they are being applied in the correct fashion.
In addition, they called on the Department of Education to seek a written rationale from schools where patterns of overuse of reduced timetables emerge.
Overall, the Committee stated it “was struck by the resilience of the Traveller community in the face of decades of deprivation, poverty and discrimination” and believed “that the State has a duty to give people every opportunity to reach their full potential in every area of their lives”.
Push for action and accountability
Following this report, the Joint Committee has been officially dissolved but members who spoke at the launch hoped that a new committee would be set up to oversee the implementation of the report’s recommendations and deal with other issues impacting Travellers that the Committee did not get to during its term.
Among the members calling for a new committee was Ó Cuív. On the report, he said that “it is action on reports that changes things”.
We need to get action on this report by government grasping this and literally pushing aside anybody who is standing in the way of justice for the Traveller community.
Bernard Joyce of the Irish Traveller Movement welcomed the report at the launch and called on political leaders, including the Taoiseach and Tánaiste, to speak out about actions that they can do which he said “would give confidence to the community”.
Maria Joyce of the National Traveller Women’s Forum said “there’s nothing new” in the report, with Travellers subjected to many of the issues “for many decades with a lack of action”. She added that “consideration seriously needs to be given to implementation, monitoring and accountability”.
This article is a follow-up to our TOUGH START investigation which was done in collaboration with The Journal. It was funded by you, our readers, with support from The Journal as well as the Noteworthy general fund to cover additional costs.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Pope Francis had 'peaceful' night in hospital, Vatican says
1 hr ago
4.6k
7 deadly reads
Sitdown Sunday: 'How f**king twisted is that?' - James Murdoch on his relationship with his father
36 mins ago
2.3k
4
Mulhouse
One dead and several police officers wounded in 'Islamist' knife attack in France
Updated
15 hrs ago
36.0k
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 152 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 104 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 136 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 77 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 37 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 50 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 84 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 64 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say