Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 9 April 2014
124. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if Traveller accommodation upgrades and provision is eligible for housing regeneration funding in view of the extremely poor accommodation of many Travellers; if it is intended to take a national planned approach to the provision of Traveller housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17005/14]
View answerIn accordance with the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller Accommodation Programmes, designed to meet the accommodation needs of Travellers, rests with individual housing authorities. My Department’s role is to ensure that there is an adequate legislative and financial system in place to assist the authorities in providing such accommodation.
Accommodation for Travellers is provided across a range of options including standard local authority housing and Traveller-specific accommodation such as group housing and halting site bays funded under my Department’s housing programme, private housing assisted by local authorities or Approved Housing Bodies, private rented accommodation and through their own resources. It is open to Travellers to opt for any form of accommodation, including Traveller-specific accommodation, and local authority programmes are intended to reflect these preferences.
My Department currently supports an ambitious programme of regeneration projects at six locations nationally which seek to address the causes of disadvantage in large social housing estates and flat complexes through holistic programmes of physical, social and economic regeneration. Regeneration projects are generally designed to meet the needs of all residents within a defined regeneration area including, in many instances, Traveller families. Given that there is a dedicated funding stream already in place for the provision and refurbishment of Traveller-specific accommodation, it is not intended that regeneration funding will be provided for such purposes.
My Department also provides funding for accommodation related supports for Traveller families which operate in tandem with the capital programme. In total, over €6 million is being provided for Traveller-specific accommodation purposes this year.
In accordance with the 1998 Act, housing authorities are statutorily required to prepare and adopt multi-annual Traveller Accommodation Programmes for their areas. The authorities are currently concluding their arrangements for the next round of programmes which must be adopted by the end of April 2014 and which will run from 2014 to 2018. These programmes will provide a road map for investment by housing authorities in Traveller accommodation over the next five years. My Department, in consultation with the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee, will continue to monitor progress by authorities in adopting their new programmes and in implementing the associated strategies. Housing authorities will also be required to carry out a mid-term review of their programmes and to identify any obstacles to delivery and ways of overcoming these.
