Vol. 564 No. 1
116 Mr. J. Breen asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the way in which he intends to deal with members of the Traveller community who move from halting sites back to the roads, when the population grows and the site can no longer accommodate such growth; the existing provisions to deal with this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8642/03]
In preparing Traveller accommodation programmes for the period 2000 to 2004, local authorities were required to estimate the then existing accommodation needs of Travellers and the likely growth in need for accommodation arising from new family formations during the lifespan of the programmes, including new families formed by residents of halting sites. Local authorities are now in the process of implementing these Traveller accommodation programmes, for which my Department continues to provide funding. In the first three years of the programmes, from 2000 to 2002, a total of €65.46 million was provided to local authorities to meet the cost of providing new and refurbished halting sites and group houses. A further €30 million has been provided in my Department's Vote for such accommodation in 2003. In addition to Traveller specific accommodation, standard local authority housing and housing provided by approved voluntary housing bodies is also allocated to Traveller families.
