Councillor blasts council on Traveller accommodation

A local councillor has blasted South Dublin County Council over a lack of progress for Traveller accommodation in the county.

People Before Profit Councillor Madeleine Johansson made the comments following revelations that the council had not drawn down any funding for Traveller accommodation in 2020 by October.

The figures, which were released in October by the Department of Housing, showed that several local authorities had drawn down zero funding this year.

“The constant underspend on traveller specific accommodation shows the complete lack of will on behalf of council management and the ruling group in the council,” Councillor Johansson said.

“We were presented with a Traveller Accommodation Programme in July 2019 which was more or less the exact same programme as the one 5 years prior.

“When challenging it at the meeting, and requesting that the issue was deferred to allow for further discussion, I was told by the Fine Gael Mayor that we were not allowed to make amendments or defer the issue.

“It is very clear that the ruling group of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Green Party have no interest in providing decent, safe accommodation for traveller families in South Dublin.

“The new figures for 2020 spending confirm this.

“I’m calling on South Dublin County Council and councillors to revise the Traveller Accommodation Plan and to fast-track all current proposals.”