Traveller Community housing and accommodation access debate resumed by Oireachtas Committee

The meeting at 12:30 pm will be broadcast from Committee Room 4 of Leinster House.

Representatives will include:

• The Housing Agency - Mr John O’Connor, Chief Executive Officer, Ms Roslyn Molloy, Head of Policy & Practice, and Mr John McCartney, Director of Policy & Communications.
• Focus Ireland - Ms Rosemary Hennigan, Policy Coordinator, and Mr Mike Allen, Director of Advocacy.

Cathaoirleach of the Committee Senator Eileen Flynn said: “The Committee and I look forward to our discussion around the issues of Traveller Housing and Accommodation with ‘The Housing Agency’ and ‘Focus Ireland’. We continue our discussion on one of the basic human needs and as discussed at our previous meeting, a basic human right.”

The Cathaoirleach added: “Housing and accommodation, and especially culturally appropriate, Traveller specific accommodation is an extremely important topic for this Committee and is one of the key issues affecting the Traveller Community the Committee prioritised when the Committee was formed. The availability and access to housing and accommodation; facilities and services within culturally appropriate accommodation; and high levels of homelessness within the Traveller Community are just some of the topics we hope to explore and it’s the topic of homelessness within the Traveller Community that we will concentrate on in this meeting. I look forward to continuing the important debate with our guests and having the discussion around this topic and the wider issues at play.”

The Joint Committee on Key issues affecting the Traveller Community has 14 Members, nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.

You can view the meeting in Committee Room 4 on the Oireachtas website.

More information can be found on the dedicated Committee Webpage. Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.