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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 14 Oct 2003

Vol. 572 No. 3

Written Answers. - Anti-Racism Measures.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

481 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if the Government's first preparation report on the UN Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination argued that racial discrimination here does not include discrimination against Travellers; if so, if this represents a policy change from previous Government recognition of Travellers as a minority ethnic group; and the reason for same. [23447/03]

The UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination defines "racial discrimination" as any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin.

To suffer from racial discrimination Travellers would need to suffer distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin.

The Government's view over the years, repeated in the draft report under the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination, has been that Travellers do not constitute a distinct group from the population as a whole in terms of race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin. In the preparation of equality legislation, it was considered that discrimination against Travellers would not be covered by the term "discrimination on the ground of race". Therefore a separate ground "membership of the Traveller Community", on which it is unlawful to discriminate, was put into equality legislation. This was not meant to provide a lesser level of protection to Travellers compared to that afforded to members of ethnic minorities. On the contrary, the separate identification of Travellers in equality legislation guarantees that they are explicitly protected.
I understand that some of the pressure to recognise Travellers as an ethnic minority in Ireland arises from a desire for Travellers to be protected by international human rights instruments such as the International Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination. The Government is committed to applying all the protections afforded to ethnic minorities by the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination equally to Travellers.
For this reason, the Government has included in detail the steps taken to tackle discrimination against Travellers in an appendix to Ireland's draft report under the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
However, the Government is not prepared to include in the report a statement it does not believe to be true, namely that Travellers are ethnically different from the majority of Irish people.
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