More than 1,700 Traveller families living in 'unsafe conditions'

“A low estimate shows over 1,700 Traveller families are living in inadequate, unsafe, and impermanent conditions stacked against their health, education, employment, and life opportunities, below basic human rights standards,” said Mr Joyce.

He appealed for urgent reform of “a broken system that is not of our making”.

In some local authority areas, for example Galway City, Traveller families make up 50% of the homeless families, while accounting for just over 1% of the overall population,” said Mr Joyce.

According to a 2021 ESRI/IHREC report monitoring adequate housing in Ireland, 39% of Travellers are living in overcrowded accommodation, 24% live in severe housing deprivation, and 5% are living without piped water or sewerage supplies.

A 2017 Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission report found that Travellers were 22 times more likely to experience discrimination in the private rental sector, and the Residential Tenancies Board found in a 2014 survey that 82% of landlords were unwilling to rent property to Travellers.

A recent report by the children's ombudsman examined the living conditions in a halting site, where one child described rats running up and down the walls of the trailer as they walked to school, and another described feeling "forgotten" and "like garbage" living on the site.

Historically, budgets for Traveller accommodation have not been fully spent by local authorities. Between 2008 and 2018, of €168.8m allocated to local authorities for Traveller-specific accommodation, just two-thirds (€110.6m) was drawn down.

In 2020, the department ceased allocating specific budgets to individual local authorities, and instead actively encouraged all local authorities to apply for and drawdown funds at any time throughout the year.

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Peter Burke, said that there was “no doubt” that delivery on Traveller-specific accommodation in recent years has been disappointing, and reflected in the levels of funding drawn down.

I am pleased, however, to report that local authorities made full use of the €14.5m which was available for Traveller-specific accommodation in 2020, and it is hoped that this will be repeated with the €15.5m budget for 2021,” he said.

Mr Joyce of the ITM said it was important to note that a significant amount of the 2020 budget was spent on providing emergency pandemic measures.

“€4.4m of that budget was spent on the most basic of emergency provisions to mitigate against Covid-19, including water tanks and portaloos, and not on new developments,” he said. "In 2020, just seven group houses were built or refurbished."

In 2018, the Traveller Accommodation Expert Group was established to review the provision and delivery of accommodation for Travellers, and delivered its report in 2019. Earlier this year, a programme board was established to oversee the implementation of the expert group's recommendations.

The ITM said it welcomes this report and the programme board for implementation, but is concerned about the rate of progress.

“Eighteen of the recommendations are due to be completed in 2021, while most recent progress reports do not demonstrate this is likely to be fulfilled,” said Mr Joyce. 

No subgroups have been established for any of the recommendations to facilitate consultations with Traveller organisations.

“The provision of targets, timelines, and sufficient resourcing for each of the recommendations ensure what has been promised is possible, that those responsible are held accountable and ensure that success is measurable. 

"We ask the committee to ensure that these targets, timelines, and sufficient resources are in place and clearly outlined to ensure this accountability.”