Oireachtas Committee report calls on Government to recognise Traveller ethnicity

An Oireachtas Committee has published a report calling on the Taoiseach to make a statement to the Dáil recognising Traveller ethnicity.

The Justice Committee wants the Government to fully recognise the ethnic status of theTravelling community - and inform the international communitythat it is doing so.

If the change goes ahead, the Committee sayss the Government should engage with Traveller representatives to make sure that any changes to legislation are fully discussed.

Sinn Féin's Padraig MacLochlainn, who wrote the report, says a speech from the Taoiseach would be a major step.

"We believe that this statement by Government can be a positive step in the right direction," he said.

"Unfortunately in recent years we have seen that relationship between the settled community and the Travelling community widen again, and we need to start building those bridges and starting to deal with those issues."