Petition calling for Traveller agency is handed in to Dáil

A PETITION with almost 5,500 signatures calling for the establishment of a Traveller agency was delivered to the Dáil last week.

Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre initiated the petition following the Carrickmines tragedy that cost the lives of 10 people.

It calls onTaoiseach Enda Kenny to establish a Traveller agency to urgently drive improvements and implement existing policies in Traveller health, education and employment. 

The petition was handed to Minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin who accepted it on behalf of the Taoiseach.

Speaking at the handover, Martin Collins, Pavee Point Co Director, thanked the public for their strong show of support and solidarity in the wake of the Carrickmines tragedy.

 “Today we, along with our 5,463 signatories, are urging the Government to show strong leadership on Traveller issues,” he said.

“What happened in Carrickmines cannot happen again. In the month since the Carrickmines fire tragedy we have seen the bereaved Traveller families housed in an un-serviced car park.

“We have seen a lot of solidarity with Travellers but we have also seen a lot of hate speech against Travellers.

“Travellers cannot be allowed to experience discrimination, degradation and be forced to live in sub-standard conditions for another generation,” he added. 

“We need to see results. A Traveller agency is needed to drive progress in an accountable and transparent way, turning policy into action.” 

Meanwhile, South Dublin County Council is to engage in fire awareness training as an audit of all Traveller halting sites in the county and across Dublin gets underway.

Responding to queries from Cllr Francis Timmons (Ind) who referred to the Carrickmines fire tragedy, the council said it had received communications from the Chief Fire Officer seeking a list of all sites within each local authority’s administrative area. 

“The Chief Fire Officer is seeking a list of all our sites and is arranging meetings with this local authority and the Traveller representative groups from within our area to discuss the best way to roll out fire safety awareness training and also to carry out audits of our sites,” the council stated.

“We will of course fully co-operate with any inspections and training they wish to implement.”

The council revealed that it has provided 16 sites with bays for caravans/mobile homes with four of these sites classified as temporary/emergency currently catering for 31 families. In addition there are 12 Group HousingSchemes.

“All of our sites are inspected once a year by a company who are employed by the council to carry out inspections and to make sure that all fire extinguishers are in place and working properly,” the council added.