Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 February 2013
268. Deputy Nicky McFadden asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if a revised national Traveller Roma integration strategy will be developed with the active participation of Travellers, Roma, wider civil society and regional and local authorities to address the gaps in the previously submitted strategy identified by the European Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7809/13]
View answerI would like to state at the outset that Ireland's National Traveller/Roma Integration Strategy is envisaged to be a living document and as time goes on there is nothing to prevent the development and inclusion of new actions in any of the sectors; therefore the necessity for a revised strategy as suggested by the Deputy does not arise as such at this point.
The Commission’s assessment of the national strategies focused on evaluating the Member States’ approach to the four key areas of education, employment, healthcare and housing, and on how structural requirements (cooperation with civil society, with regional and local authorities, monitoring, antidiscrimination and establishment of a national contact point) as well as funding are addressed as relevant for their Roma population. In each section of their report, a summary table indicates the Member States that have in place specific measures required by the EU Framework. Ireland was identified in the Commission's report as a Member State with a number of such policies in place.
In fact, contrary to drawing attention to specific gaps in Ireland's strategy, I was pleased to note that the Commission praised measures taken by Ireland in relation to Healthcare for Travellers.
Based on the assessment of all Member States, a set of policy recommendations in each section points to priorities that all Member States should further address, depending on their national circumstances, in order to meet their responsibilities. As I have already stated, the Strategy is a living document and it is envisaged that further actions will be developed for Ireland when and where it is deemed necessary.
The Strategy was developed following a communication from the EU Commission entitled “An EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies" (April 2011) which requested that member states would, in proportion to the size of the Roma population living in their territories and taking into account their different starting points, adopt or develop further a comprehensive approach to Roma integration.
As a first step towards a national strategy, all of the initiatives that exist already across Government were brought together so as to include them in a national strategy document. This document thus includes relevant strategies that already exist in the four crucial areas of education, employment, healthcare and housing. It also mentions initiatives in place in the same areas to assist the Roma community who are citizens of the European Economic Area and are legally resident in the country. It should be noted that Traveller representatives are active participants in National Committees dealing with policy in all four areas and, in this way, were involved in the development of these policies.
In relation to Roma specifically, from Ireland's perspective it is important to note that the term “Roma”, as defined by the Council of Europe, refers to Roma, Sinti, Kale and related groups in Europe, including Travellers and Eastern groups (Dom and Lom), and covers the wide diversity of the groups concerned, including persons who identify themselves as “Gypsies”. By this definition, the vast majority of Travellers/Roma in the Irish State are indigenous Irish Travellers. There are no official statistics on the number of Roma in Ireland. A figure of 3,000 (approximately 0.07% of the population) has been cited by the Roma Support Group Pavee Point. However, the vast majority of Roma in this State are EU citizens and, as such, in terms of immigration controls, are covered by the provision of the European Communities (Free movement of Persons) (No. 2) Regulations 2006. Such persons are not required to register their presence in the State.
The Deputy should be aware that my Department's role in the Strategy is one of coordination while the development of particular policy is a matter for my Government colleagues in the relevant Government Departments. In the Commission's report Ireland was identified as having a strong monitoring and review mechanism for adapting the strategy. Traveller representatives are active participants on National Committees in the various Government Departments dealing with the policy areas mentioned and, it is in this way, that they will be involved in the further development of relevant policies in relation to the strategy.
