Councils 'failing to meet Traveller accommodation needs'

The Pavee Point Traveller support group has accused Ireland's local authorities of failing to make real efforts to meet Traveller accommodation requirements.

The organisation said the Government's recent review of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act had shown that 22% of Travellers were still living without permanent quality accommodation.

Pavee Point said it was concerned about the on-going lack of halting sites and group housing schemes for Travellers and accused the local authorities of adopting an unofficial policy of forcing Travellers into general housing schemes by failing to provide Traveller-specific accommodation.

It also accused the authorities of seeking to reduce the number of families living on the roadside by forcing them, through the use of eviction laws, into overcrowded, unhealthy and unsanitary temporary sites.

Spokesman Martin Collins said a not-in-my-backyard mentality also prevailed in local housing policies.

"Most local communities do not want to be located beside Traveller-specific accommodation, so therefore local authorities respond [with an] out-of-sight, out-of-mind attitude," he said.

"In other words, they locate Traveller accommodation in very remote isolated areas, away from the local community and away from the local infrastructure."