The national Traveller accommodation consultative committee, NTACC, recently submitted a report to me on its evaluation of each of the 38 local Traveller accommodation programmes. The report comprised an assessment of the 38 programmes and an evaluation of their compliance with the requirements of section 10 of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998, and the advice and guidance contained in my Department's memorandum on implementation of the Act, which issued to local authorities in November 1998.
The Act did not require that local authorities identify specific locations or sites for the provision of accommodation under the programme. The NTACC report indicates that, of the 38 programmes adopted, the majority – 26 – identified at least the general areas and locations where the accommodation is to be provided. Several programmes indicated that it was not possible to be site specific at the time of preparation and adoption of the programme for a number of reasons, for example, the unavailability of suitable lands in the authority's ownership, the difficulty in identifying suitable land to purchase and build on, the unavailability of suitable dwellings to purchase in the area required to meet individual family needs and, in some cases, the lack of precise information on individual family requirements. Many programmes indicated that the process of site identification was ongoing at the time of adoption of the programmes.
In relation to transient sites, six of the 38 programmes indicate that it is not proposed to provide such sites on the basis that a need for such a site had not been identified in the assessment of needs which they carried out in accordance with the 1998 Act. Three authorities indicate that transient sites will be provided should a need be identified over the lifetime of the programme. The remaining 29 programmes indicate that transient site(s) will be provided as part of the overall accommodation provision, with some authorities indicating that transient site provision will be pursued in a co-ordinated way with neighbouring authorities.
Section 17 of the 1998 Act requires that a review of each Traveller accommodation programme be carried out at least once every three years. The NTACC's report on the local programmes indicates that seven of the 38 programmes – 18% – do not include proposals for a review of their programmes. However, 19 programmes – 50% – include proposals for a review either annually or after one year of operation, three – 8% – will be reviewed at the statutory time, that is, after three years, and nine – 24% – indicate that elements of the programme will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
