Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 February 2004
479 Mr. Curran asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if a national mid-term review will be made of all Traveller accommodation programmes adopted by all local authorities; if the review can indicate the proposed number of accommodation units to be provided by each local authority and the number actually provided to date; and if it can also indicate the number of units under construction. [2839/04]
View answer
Each local authority concerned adopted a five-year Traveller accommodation programme covering the period 2000-04. Section 17(1) of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 required each relevant housing authority to review its accommodation programmes at least once in each three-year period. Local authorities were therefore required to undertake a review of their programmes by 31 December 2002. It is a matter for each authority, following a review, to decide whether an amendment to its programme is warranted.
I understand that 35 of the 38 programmes adopted were reviewed. Following these reviews 14 programmes were amended. I understand that two authorities have not yet made decisions as to whether amendments are warranted following the review. In the cases of the remaining 19 programmes I understand that the relevant authorities decided that amendments were not warranted following the reviews.
Traveller accommodation programmes were based on the most recent assessments available to local authorities, that is, those of 1999. These assessments took into account the then current need and estimated additional need arising during the course of the programmes. The Act does not require a local authority, in undertaking a review of its programme, to carry out an assessment of need for Traveller accommodation.
Based on figures taken from the annual counts of Traveller families undertaken by local authorities and figures provided to my Department, the following table sets out for each local authority the number of additional units of accommodation provided for Travellers including new permanent Traveller specific accommodation, group houses and halting site bays, as well as standard local authority accommodation provided to Travellers and accommodation provided by Travellers with the assistance of local authorities in the first three years of the programmes from 2000 to 2002. Final figures for 2003 are not yet to hand. The figures shown in the table do not include the number of units — 156 — of refurbished permanent accommodation completed in the period 2000 to 2002.
At present there are 55 new permanent units of Traveller specific accommodation under construction and a further 200 are expected to start in 2004 while further Traveller families will be accommodated in standard local authority accommodation.
|
Local Authority |
No. of Units Provided 2000-2002 |
|
Carlow Co. Co. |
30 |
|
Cavan Co. Co. |
7 |
|
Clare Co. Co. |
23 |
|
Cork Co. Co. |
4 |
|
Cork City Council |
21 |
|
Donegal Co. Co. |
44 |
|
Dublin City Council |
95 |
|
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Co. Co. |
28 |
|
Fingal Co. Co. |
38 |
|
Galway Co. Co. |
41 |
|
Galway City Council |
33 |
|
Kerry Co. Co. |
24 |
|
Kildare Co. Co. |
26 |
|
Kilkenny Co. Co. |
17 |
|
Laois Co. Co. |
33 |
|
Leitrim Co. Co. |
0 |
|
Limerick Co. Co. |
20 |
|
Limerick City Council |
0 |
|
Longford Co. Co. |
29 |
|
Louth Co. Co. |
0 |
|
Dundalk Town Council |
36 |
|
Drogheda Borough Council |
0 |
|
Mayo Co. Co. |
34 |
|
Meath Co. Co. |
16 |
|
Monaghan Co. Co. |
14 |
|
Offaly Co. Co. |
26 |
|
Roscommon Co. Co. |
3 |
|
Sligo Co. Co. & Borough Council |
7 |
|
South Dublin Co. Co. |
33 |
|
North Tipperary Co. Co. |
25 |
|
South Tipperary Co. Co. |
11 |
|
Clonmel Borough Council |
0 |
|
Waterford Co. Co. |
7 |
|
Waterford City Council |
44 |
|
Westmeath Co. Co. |
6 |
|
Wexford Co. Co. |
28 |
|
Wexford Borough Council |
1 |
|
Wicklow Co. Co. |
26 |
|
TOTAL |
830 |
