Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 December 2017
64. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the national Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy 2017 to 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51734/17]
View answerOn 13 June this year, I launched the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2017 – 2021. This Strategy contains 149 Actions, grouped under ten themes, which are as follows:
- Cultural Identity;
- Education;
- Employment and The Traveller Economy;
- Children and Youth;
- Health;
- Gender Equality;
- Anti-discrimination and Equality;
- Accommodation;
- Traveller and Roma Communities; and
- Public Services
I chair a Steering Group which has the responsibility for monitoring and achieving progress on the implementation of the Strategy. The Steering Group consists of representatives of the Traveller and Roma communities, as well as of representatives of relevant Government Departments and Agencies.
Since the launch of the Strategy, the Steering Group has met twice, on 2 August and on 18 October. The next meeting is planned for Wednesday 13 December. The meetings provide an opportunity to review progress and to drive forward implementation of the Strategy.
To date, work has begun on approximately 100 of the actions in the Strategy. The Steering Group will continue to monitor progress on these Actions and to focus on actions where progress has not yet commenced. It is a priority for me that the momentum achieved to date is maintained.
As a response to a number of the actions in the Strategy, 3 sub-committees have been set up to report back to the Steering Group:
- One of these sub-committees has been formed in my Department on the issue of data collection on ethnic grounds.
- A second sub-committee has been formed to deal with the issue of the retention of Traveller and Roma children in education. At the last meeting, held last month, a proposal was jointly agreed by my Department, the Department of Educational and Skills, and TUSLA to implement a pilot project on this issue in 4 different locations with high Traveller and/or Roma populations; and
- The third sub-committee was set up to deal with the problem of feuding in the Traveller Community. Proposals for addressing this issue through mediation are currently being examined.
Each of these sub-committees is chaired by an official from my Department, and the membership consists of representatives of relevant Government Department and Agency officials as well as of the Traveller and Roma communities.
The recognition last March by the Government of Travellers as an ethnic minority represented a crucial step forward in the relationship between the Government, the Traveller community and the settled community. It is my aim that the Strategy should build on this landmark decision to work to bring about concrete improvements in the lives of Travellers across the country.
