Justice & Equality Committee report calls on State to formally acknowledge Traveller Ethnicity

In a report on Traveller Ethnicity published today, Thursday, 26 January 2017, the Committee said it is of the view that Travellers are, de facto, a separate ethnic group.

The Committee stated that this is not a gift to be bestowed upon them, but a fact the State ought to formally acknowledge, preferably by way of a statement by the Taoiseach to Dáil Éireann.

The Committee strongly encourages that this step be taken and at the earliest date possible in 2017.

It said that the Government should then conduct a review, in consultation with Traveller representative groups, of any legislative or policy changes required on foot of the recognition of Traveller Ethnicity.

Committee Chairman Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said: “Back in 2014, our predecessor Committee of the 31st Dáil published a Report on the Recognition of Traveller Ethnicity. Its key recommendation was that this State recognise the ethnicity of the Travelling community, and that steps be taken to implement any necessary legislative change to reflect this.

Despite the recommendations of the previous Committee, and of several other bodies - both international and domestic - tasked with promoting and protecting the human rights and equality rights of all of our citizens, this State has yet to explicitly and formally recognise Traveller Ethnicity.

The current Joint Committee was very keen that this issue would remain firmly on the political agenda. It is given greater poignancy by the Carrickmines tragedy of 2015 that resulted in the death of ten members of the Traveller community.

We undertook to supplement and reinforce the valuable work and recommendations put forward by the previous Committee by conducting our own hearings and adding this report to the body of work already in place on the recognition of Traveller Ethnicity.

The Joint Committee examined these matters in detail over the course of four engagements with a range of relevant stakeholders and experts, and the evidence in favour of the recognition of Traveller Ethnicity was overwhelming.”

Access the report here: http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/committees/justice/Report-on-the-Recognition-of-Traveller-Ethnicity-20-01-17.pdf

ENDS