Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 9 Nov 1999

Vol. 510 No. 3

Written Answers. - Traveller Communications Programme.

Martin Brady

Ceist:

378 Mr. M. Brady asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the basis on which the grant of £900,000 to the Travellers' Media Advisory Group was awarded; the programme from which it is to be funded; if other community groups and voluntary representative organisations are in receipt of funding for media promotion; if so, the extent in this regard; the controls which attach to the grant to ensure that it may not be used to generate adverse publicity in relation to court actions taken by local authorities in relation to illegal halting sites; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22589/99]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

An allocation of £0.3 million in 1999 was announced in the budget to fund a communications programme with the aim of empowering travellers and also to promote a greater understanding between travellers and the settled community. A sum of £300,000 has been provided in my Department's Estimate for 1999 under subhead S – equality monitoring-consultative committees – to fund the programme. The programme, which is entitled Citizen Traveller, was formally launched on 27 October 1999. The objective of the programme is to address the underlying causes of mistrust between the traveller and the settled community, while at the same time creating an immediate awareness of certain issues.

The Deputy will be aware that my Department provides funding to a number of community groups and voluntary representative organisations. Many of these have the authority to partake in media promotions relevant to their functional area but would not necessarily inform my Department of the details of their media campaigns.

The overall strategy of traveller communication programme is being divided into a number of activities. These will include market research, lobbying, media relations, advertising, promotions, appropriate training, and ongoing com munity activities involving settled and traveller communities. Projects in the area of public relations and public affairs have also been developed. These will involve media training of five regional and five national spokespeople from the traveller communication committee.

The communication programme will also involve an outdoor advertising campaign using hoardings, radio adverts, press adverts, information packs and direct mail packages as advertising methods. Additional projects are also planned, such as a small grant fund for traveller groups undertaking a communications approach to new or existing projects, and the monitoring of traveller issues in the media.

The implementation of the programme is being managed by a committee, known as the traveller communication committee. The committee which was originally known as the traveller media advisory group is made up of representatives of the Irish Traveller Movement, the National Traveller Women's Forum, Pavee Point and the Parish of the Travelling People. Its chairperson is Fr. Dan O'Connell, C.M. of the Parish of the Travelling People. The committee has appointed a director and an office administrator to manage the day to day operation of the programme.

I would like to assure the Deputy that the funding for the traveller communication programme is provided for the objectives as specified above and is not to be used for purposes other that those for which it was intended. Expenditure on the programme is monitored closely by my Department on an ongoing basis. My Department receives details of the committee's proposals and costs at the beginning of each quarter and tranches of funds are provided to the committee only after its quarterly expenditure plans have been approved by my Department.