merrion street

To discuss the very serious problem of anti-Traveller discrimination in our

society in light of recent events in Donegal and the need for dedicated

action and initiatives which might help to combat this problem

Deputy Dessie Ellis

Minister’s Opening Remarks

I  would  like to thank the Deputies for raising this matter. I am speaking

on  behalf  of  the  Minister  for Justice and Equality who is unable to be

present due to other business.

The  shocking  incident  in  which  a  house  at Parkhill, Ballyshannon was

destroyed  by  fire  in  the  early hours of Monday 11 February is of great

concern to the Minister, as I have no doubt it is to all in this House.

The  Minister  understands that the house was completely engulfed by flames

and  that  Gardaí had to evacuate a number of other houses in the vicinity.

Thankfully,  it  appears  that no one was injured, but the incident clearly

had  the  potential  for  a tragic and possibly fatal outcome. The Minister

would  like  to  pay  tribute  to the Gardaí and Fire Service personnel who

responded very effectively to this emergency incident.

The  Minister  is  well aware of the suggestion that the fire may have been

started  deliberately  and  that  it may be the result of an anti-Traveller

attack. Needless to say the Minister, and the Government, would condemn any

such  acts  without reservation, and anyone motivated by discriminatory and

racist  attitudes should be aware that all illegal actions will be met with

the full force of the law.

The  current  position  is  that  the incident is under investigation by An

Garda  Síochána.  I  am  sure  Deputies  will  appreciate  that it would be

inappropriate  to  comment  in  any  more  detail  on  the  progress of the

investigation.   We need to allow the Gardaí the space and time to do their

job.  In the event that the Garda investigation indicates that the fire was

the  result  of  a  criminal act the Minister has every confidence that the

matter  will  be pursued by the Gardaí in a thorough and fully professional

manner.  On  behalf  of  the  Minister I would appeal to anyone who has any

information which might be of assistance to the Gardaí to come forward.

The  commitment  of An Garda Síochána to tackle racially motivated crime is

underlined  by  the  work  of the Garda Racial, Intercultural and Diversity

Office  (GRIDO),  whose services are available to any person who believes a

crime  to be motivated by discriminatory or racist attitudes. In such cases

the GRIDO office will assist victims as well as the investigating Gardaí to

ensure that the incident receives the appropriate attention. The GRIDO also

monitors crimes which have a racist motivation on a constant basis so as to

ensure that all such crimes are properly recorded and investigated.

The  Minister  is aware of course that issues relating to the accommodation

of Travellers have been brought into this discussion. Travellers in Ireland

have  the  same  civil  and  political  rights  as other citizens under the

Constitution, including in terms of access to public services such as local

authority accommodation.  All the protections afforded to ethnic minorities

in  EU directives and international conventions apply to Travellers because

the  Irish  legislation  giving  effect to those international instruments,

such  as  the Equality Acts, the Unfair Dismissals Acts and the Prohibition

of Incitement to Hatred Act, explicitly protect Travellers.

Government  policy  in  relation  to  the  accommodation  of  Travellers is

implemented  through  the  Housing  (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998. All

relevant  local  authorities  are  obliged,  under  the  Act,  to adopt and

implement  multi-annual Traveller accommodation programmes, with the aim of

improving   the   rate   of  provision  of  accommodation  for  Travellers.

Significant   funding   has  been  made  available  for  the  provision  of

Traveller-specific accommodation over many years.

In conclusion, the Minister would like to assure the Deputies that there is

no question of this Government entertaining any suggestions that Travellers

should be regarded as anything less than equal participants in modern Irish

society.